The Palestinian Elections: Beyond Hamas and Fatah

Issue Date July 2006
Volume 17
Issue 3
Page Numbers 131-137
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January’s remarkably free and affair parliamentary elections broke the PLO’s long-standing monopoly over Palestinian politics. As future free elections unfold, the prospects for a multiparty system await testing through the creation of a third option that is distinct from what Fatah or Hamas represents. For Palestinians who love democracy; believe in moderation; long for peace, prosperity, and improved governance; and want to honor national and religious sentiments within a humane and well-built framework of liberal constitutionalist political principles, the time to act is now.

About the Author

Riad Malki is director general of PANORAMA, the Palestinian Center for the Dissemination of Democracy and Community Development, and coordinator of the Palestinian Strategic and Policy Studies Center. He writes a weekly column on politics for the newspaper al-Ayyam.

View all work by Riad Malki