Former member of Fatah Central Committee: Palestinian National Dialogue in Egypt discusses elections and ending division

CAIRO - 9 February 2020: "The meeting of the Palestinian National Dialogue in Cairo is the culmination of recent meetings ..... Those meetings led to a meeting of the General Secretaries of the Palestinian factions and the Palestine Liberation Organization to end the division that has continued for years, and has created severe suffering, especially in Gaza," said Sakher Bseiso, a former member of the Fatah Central Committee.

In a statement to Egypt Today, Bseiso stressed that the Palestinian division created an unnatural atmosphere in dealing with the Palestinian issue, referring to the role that Egypt has played over the past years to support the Palestinian people and their just cause.

On Feb. 8, 14 Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, arrived in Cairo to talk and agree on a series of elections in 2021 for the first time in 15 years. They thanked Egypt at the end of their round of talks, but Egypt also heads the Arab League at this time and called for a convention at the level of foreign minister on the same day.

The Arab foreign ministers adopted a 12-item decision regarding the Palestinian cause during the emergency meeting by Egypt and Jordan in Cairo.

The resolution stipulates that “Arab countries support the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, a top of which are self-determination, the right of return, and the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state, on the border of the 4th of June 1967 and East Jerusalem as its capital.”

In his speech at the meeting upon request from Egypt and Jordan , Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry affirmed Egypt’s supporting role in achieving the inter-Palestine reconciliation and in reviving negotiations between the Palestinians and Israeli, saying “The Palestinian cause is still and will remain our central issue … The stability in the region will not be achieved without a permanent and comprehensive peace based on a just settlement that fulfills the aspirations and hopes of the Palestinian people.”

“Some [countries] thought that the Arab world, amid the current circumstances, had become distracted from the cause. They thought that the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, has not become on the agenda of the Arab countries’ priorities. But this belief is wrong. The Palestinian issue was and will remain in the heart of the Arab conscience, no matter how stagnant and disrupted the negotiation process is and despite the unilateral Israeli practices and settlement projects in the West Bank.”
 

He further pointed out that Egypt was hosting the meeting to work to overcome the obstacles that hinder holding elections that renew Palestinian legitimacy and re-establish the Palestinian legislative institution anew after the division.

Bseiso explained that the meeting tackled critical points concerned with the formation of the electoral court, ways the Constitutional Court can interfere in issues related to the elections, the bodies that will supervise the elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the recent amendments to Palestinian laws.

Also, he noted that the delegations of the Palestinian factions have a real will to hold elections for the Legislative Council, the Presidential Council, and the National Council during 2021, clarifying that the factions’ failure to agree on a unified political program will necessarily hinder holding the elections, hence stressing the importance of establishing a unified political agreed upon by all factions.

Furthermore, Bseiso affirmed that Egypt has been a real support for the Palestinian people since 1948 and has sacrificed thousands of martyrs for the Palestinian cause, shedding light on the existence of joint bilateral relations in all fields, especially in the recent period since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi took over the leadership of Egypt.

He emphasized that Egypt has been trying to reform the unity of the Palestinian people and has been working to host the dialogue meetings to eliminate the division. The first agreement was signed in 2005.