Reform and Governance Program

This program has three components:

A. Parliamentary Horizons Newsletter

B. Policy Research Group

C. Project to enhance the transparency of Palestinian political parties and develop their role in ensuring accountability of the executive (PNA) and legislative (PLC)

A.     Parliamentary Horizons Newsletter:

Parliamentary Horizons:  two issues were published during this report period, and two more are planned for the second half of the year. One issue was devoted to the proceedings of the annual conference held in February. The idea was to reach as wide an audience as possible using various means including Parliamentary Horizons of which 10 thousand copies are distributed with al-Ayyam newspaper.  The second issue was published in June-July and covered issues related to reform, corruption, the internal problems of Fatah and the evident splintering in the movement after Arafat, and the increasing discontent among Palestinians with lack of personal security as a result of the proliferation of armed groups operating outside the law.

B.  Policy Research Group: 

a. Reform of Election Law

Muwatin has for the past three years coordinated the effort of a large group of institutions and representatives of several political parties in an effort to reform the elections law for the PLC.  Muwatin's role was instrumental in opening the subject for debate in 2002 through the report prepared by its Policy Research Group which included a model new law that was submitted to the PLC by Dr. Azmi Shuaibi, as a "private member's bill".  Dr. Shuaibi, a noted former PLC member, is part of the Muwatin Group.  A collective effort of public education, and civil society actors meetings followed and lasted for three years until the PLC approved in mid June, 2005, a new law, more or less along lines recommended in the Muwatin report.  This is a concrete and significant achievement since the elections law to a large degree shapes the composition of the PLC. The new law should insure more diversity and pluralism and therefore better representation and legitimacy for any future PLC.

b. Reform of local government:

The Policy Research Group began working on a report advocating the reform of the elections law for municipal councils and local government. The present law is majoritarian, where winner takes all, and leads to anomalies as witnessed in the first three rounds of local elections that have taken place so far. For instance, in one local council in Gaza, those that won all the seats got 30% of the votes, while those that lost (several groups) got 70% of the votes cast. For the wrong reasons but with the right end-results, the Palestinian Authority is now interested in reforming the law in the direction of proportional representation, given Hamas's strong showing in Gaza in elections held so far.

Muwatin submitted a proposed new law to the PLC in late May 2005, again as a "private member's bill" submitted by Dr. Shuaibi. Preceding that, the Policy Research Group held two consultative workshops, one with 20 members of municipal and local councils from Bethlehem and Jericho and the Ramallah area, and another workshop with representatives of political parties and civil society institutions. The proposed new law was also published by Muwatin in al-Ayyam newspaper so that the general public will have a chance to examine the proposed changes. Comments from the public were also sought in an interactive effort with the Policy Research Group. In late June the PLC approved the proposed law for a general reading.

The Policy Research Group’s follow-up project concerns the revision of the law governing the authorities of different local governing institutions such as municipalities and district systems (Governates). At present there is considerable overlap and lack of clarity between these bodies. The group will study and diagnose the law and propose a series of modifications that can clearly delineate the boundaries between different forms of local and regional authorities.

c. Research Projects:

1. Election systems and forms of Democracy by William Nassar

This project aims to examine to what extent electoral systems ensure democratic governance within a society, and how different electoral systems can either hinder or facilitate democratic representation. It will further examine the mixed electoral system in Palestine to gauge what forms of electoral systems are best suited to specific Palestinian conditions.

2. The laws regulating the work of the PLC by Jihad Harb

Within the understanding for the need to restructure and reform the workings of the PLC in the light of the problems it faced in its first parliamentary term this project examines the different the laws that have regulated the work of the PLC, and which are often either contradictory or at cross purposes. The project will locate the weaknesses of the internal bye-laws regulating parliamentary work and will propose ways to strengthen it.   

d. Activities and outputs:

1. Public Education meetings, Workshops and Televised Symposia:

The year 2005 was in many ways a crucial year for the democratic system in Palestine, it was the year of the electoral practice of democracy.  The need to reform the different electoral laws concerning the PLC as well as the municipality elections meant that Muwatin undertook an intensive campaign of public education for the reform of these bills to ensure a higher form of representation both in parliament and at the local level.  The campaign was directed at these points:

1. To ensure a minimum of half the PLC seats elected on the basis of proportional representation

2. To ensure a 20 percent quota for women on the party electoral lists

3. To ensure a system of proportional representation within the municipal elections.

4. To ensure a quota for women not less than 20% at the local level.

5. To ensure the cooperation of political parties in the campaign as well as civil society organizations

6. To work with the elections monitoring committee to ensure that there was adequate and effective civil society monitoring of the elections.

7. To build working relations with members of the PLC, and particularly with the Legal committee as well as the Political Committee

Activities to achieve these aims were intensively pursued throughout the year and included:

1. TV symposia with different civil society representatives as well as political parties to introduce and explain the reforms needed.

2. Workshops, conferences and symposia to advocate and explain the importance of the reforms to different audiences

3.  Monthly meetings with members of the government, PLC members and other key decision makers.

4. Articles in the press.

C. Project to enhance the transparency of Palestinian political parties and develop their role in ensuring accountability of the executive (PNA) and legislative (PLC)

This project aims to support the Palestinian political parties in realizing a successful transition to accountable and transparent political parties, primed for playing an effective role in the advancement of the Palestinian society through insuring the transparency and accountability of the political parties themselves and by assisting them to play an active and effective role in monitoring the government to ensure it's transparency and accountability and supporting the role of Palestinian legislative council(PLC).

Activities and output:

1. Public Education meetings, Workshops and Televised Symposia:

a. A series of internal one to one workshops were held with different representatives of the Palestinian political parties to discuss various aspects of their internal organization. Research was conducted on the internal mechanisms that regulated party work and for ensuring democratic elections and accountability within their governing bodies. Issues of the reform of the political party law were discussed as well as how to regulate a fair and equitable law for political funding of elections.

b. The research results of the projects were presented to the political parties as well as political activists and PLC members in a large symposium held in June 2005.

2. Publications: 1. Two research projects on the problems and internal structures of political parties were commissioned and published.

1. Jamil Hilal: Palestinian Political Organizations and Parties: Issues of Internal and Political Democracy and National Liberation

This study examines the historical role played by political parties in the transition to democracy as a backdrop to a historical analysis of the emergence of Palestinian political parties that succeeded in differentiating a Palestinian political field achieving a degree of autonomy from the Arab regional system.  The study discusses the ways to break the crisis that exists within the political parties and examines the transformations that have taken place in the Palestinian political field in the aftermath of Oslo, the establishment of the Palestinian Authority under continuing conditions of occupation and the emergence of a two party system in Palestine with the growth of Hamas as a second major party with Fatah.

2. Taleb Awad and Sameeh Shbeeb: Palestinian Political Parties and Issues of Accountability and Transparency

This study examines the role of political parties within a democratic political system, ranging from their role in monitoring the executive branch of government to the checks and balances that political parties provide to ensure a functioning democratic polity.  It examines the Palestinian Political Party Law, the internal regulations of the parties and the extent they ensure internal democratic processes.  The need to reform the Political party law and to regulate election financing is stressed.