The Election Section Redux (The Return of Ray Von)

With everything else going on in this part of the world, one annual event which may have been overshadowed in the international press, but is nonetheless making headlines here is the annual student council elections at the University of Birzeit. Each year, the 7000 strong student body elect a council according to proportional representation. I bumped into a friend last night who told me about the candidate debate today, so I decided to make the trip to the University to see what it was all about.

Entrance to the campus is unusually tight, and apparently has been for the last week or so. (This is due to last year's gunfire - of the celebratory kind - after Fatah won. Traditionally Hamas has dominated the elections/student council). I met a friend after arriving, who showed me around, pointed out which party was which, and translated the proceedings once they got going. There are seven parties running this year. Every party, bar one, is affiliated with one of the major political parties. However, they all have different names. So the Fatah group are called 'The Guys' and Hamas is called 'The Islamic Collective'. Islamic Jihad, the PFLP (split into 2 groups), Muhadara (Barghouti's party) and the group independent of any political party (whose name escapes me) made up the numbers.

The reason for the nomenclature is historical. Prior to the Palestinian Authority's arrival in 1994, political parties were banned by the Israeli Occupation Authorities. Therefore all of the groups had to make up names so they could disclaim affiliation when they needed to. Since the elections have been running for a number of years now, and happen every year, they are seen as an important indicator of the current political mood among the Palestinian population. (The general election in January was the first truly democratic one Palestine has had, and there was only one other election besides this one).

The student elections are also a real spectacle! (Lights, camera, action!)

Before the debate, all of the parties and their more ardent supporters marched towards a stage that had been erected for the purpose of the debate. The entire university closes down for two hours while the debate goes on - even the staff are given the time off - so there are plenty of dis/interested spectators. Many students proudly display their allegiance - each party has a different colour - and there are plenty of flags for people to wave. Fatah and Hamas are, conspicuously, the largest parties in terms of support. This was also reflected in the debate - if you could call it that.

Each leader was given 5 minutes to speak, and then someone from the university administration asked all the candidates questions, which they had to answer within 3 minutes. The presentations involved every party criticising Fatah and Hamas for fighting with each other all the time, except for Fatah and Hamas, who just criticised their main rival. Then, when asked what they would do about student affairs, they all began to talk about the national political situation. In fact, the candidates talked a lot about the national situation and very little about the university or the issues students face specifically!

Quite notably, all parties (including Fatah) condoned yesterday's suicide bombing, except Muhadara (and they didn't exactly condemn it!) Each time this happened, the reaction was far less equivocal than this article would make you think. The candidates for Hamas and Fatah were passionate orators, and the PFLP group also did well, because Ahmad Sadat's daughter was speaking for them. (Ahmad Sadat is the leader of the PLFP, who was in the Jericho jail that was raided last month. He was captured, and is now in an Israeli jail).

However, quite unexpectedly the sun came out, and the heat combined with the amount of time I had to stand led to a premature exit. I certainly wasn't the only one who was tired, although I was probably one of the few people who got sun-burnt!

The elections are tomorrow. The word on campus is that America's current crusade against Hamas is making Hamas very popular amongst the Palestinian students. The flip side - America's support for Fatah - is having the opposite effect. We shall see - results come out at 8 or 9pm.