THE DEMANDS ON ARAFAT

Date: May 18, 2002 Page: A12 Section: Editorial

WITHIN Palestinian society, yearnings for democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights are not new. Ever since Yasser Arafat and his PLO entourage moved from Tunis to Gaza in 1994, imposing their corrupt and arbitrary regime on Gazans and West Bankers, there has been a powerful undertow of resentment against Arafat and his cronies.

To Palestinians avid for decent governance, recent Saudi or American proposals to reform the Palestinian Authority come as the belated recognition of sordid reality. They certainly did not need the suicide bombers who provoked Ariel Sharon's assaults on West Bank towns to illuminate Arafat's lack of any coherent strategy for peace. But these things happened, and in response Arafat broached a need for reforms in a speech Wednesday to the Palestinian Legislature. The next day, after the Palestinian Parliament demanded that a new Cabinet be organized in 45 days and general elections be held by early next year, Arafat let it be known that he would permit legislative and presidential elections to be held within six months.

But later he said elections will be held only after Israeli checkpoints return to the lines of September 2001, before the current intifadah. Terrorist provocations should stop and the Israeli siege should end, but elections need not depend on these actions.

It is crucial that steps in the direction of an honest democracy be implemented properly. A new interim Cabinet should be formed without delay, and Arafat should be made a figurehead president with no real executive powers. Also, his control of the funds from foreign donors must be taken away from him. It is no secret among Palestinians who have seethed against his misrule that Arafat has long derived most of his power from his exclusive hold on the purse strings first of the PLO and then of the Palestinian Authority. Any presidential election must be a true contest, not a sham ballot between Arafat and a token opponent.

Palestinian proponents of reform should leave no doubt that their drive for transparent governance and the rule of law is not merely a cosmetic pretense imposed by Americans, Europeans, or Israelis. The Palestinian member of Parliament and human rights defender Hanan Ashrawi reflected this need Wednesday when she said of her fellow legislators' demands for change: "This is the authentic, Palestinian, home-grown program of reform: structural, legal, procedural, personal."

As was to be expected, the fundamentalist group Hamas expressed disdain for elections and democratic reform. Hamas wants an Islamic state from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, not a democratic Palestine alongside Israel. This is why Hamas responds to each peace initiative - whether from the Arab League summit in Beirut or from US envoys - with another terrorist atrocity. The ultimate antidote to such reactionary venom must be peaceful coexistence between the democratic states of Israel and Palestine.

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