Hamas Victory: The Price of Democracy?
The militant group Hamas won an overwhelming majority in the recently concluded Palestinian Legislative elections. It also sent a stinging blow to Fatah and PM Qurei. Also, it has thrown a questin mark over the whole peace process and its very future. Within a matter of few weeks, the once “ontrack” peace process is now very much stalled and derailed. The Western leaders had hailed the elections as free and fair, even independant election observers were united in calling these elections legitimate. The calculation of the US and EU was that even though Hamas would make a few inroads into the Fatah seat tally, the overall majority would still be enjoyed by Fatah. But the Ballot box had its own story to tell. Hamas won 76 seats in the 130 odd Parliament. With that Hamas does not even need Fatah to form a coalition to rule, they are the rulers.
It is not surpirising why Hamas has reached where it has today, Hamas has long been associated with helping the Palestinians at the grassroot level. Providing civic amenities and building hospitals and schools (a role in which Fatah failed totally). Coupled with the fact that Hamas is seen as coruption-free organization, unlike the Fatah which was riddled with allegations of civil neglect and corruption. Hamas, has also pointed out that its main agenda will be serving the people of Palestinian areas and solving the acute problem of unemployment ( 50-60% of the youth are unemplyed). To that extent the rule of Hamas looks promising.
However, the troubling part about Hamas is the fact that it is a terror group, carrying out suicide bombings in Israel and also calling for Israel's destruction in its official Charter. Also, Hamas is linked to militant outfits like Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, which in turn are linked to Al-Qaeda. The very fact that such a group will be the ruling faction in Palestine is a matter of concern. It is clear that they will not negotitae with the Israelis on what the final contours of the state of Palestine will look like, infact, peace with Isreal does not feature on its agenda on its moment, but hopefully that should change. Analysts say that militant groups once in power become moderate, they often site the IRA in Northern Ireland and the paramilitary forces in South America as exapmles. However, this is the Middle East, and things are distinctly different from any where else in the World. So we are in a unpreecedented stage in the Middle East with only the future telling us what the outcome will be. It is also a possiblity that the result in Palestine will benefit the right-wing Benjimin Netanyahu and his Likud party. Israelis might wonder that if the very terrorists who carry out suicide bombings have formed the Government, it could ratlle many to the Right of Israeli politics.
But the election outcome in Palestine throws a larger question - is freedom of the ballot fuelling extremism? Are free societies choosing more hardline candidates? Is the Middle-East ready for Democracy? How better is the democratically elected Bush and his Neo-con agenda better than that of Hamas or Ahmedinijad? These questions have become increasingly pertinent with the situation in Iran, Syria and now Palestine, where voters have thrown up candidates which the West tells us are actually “anti-democracy”. There is a strange paradox, you want elections but provided “your”man gets the job! I feel that the reason for the people in the Middle East choosing more radical leaders is the fact that they see American troops in their neighbourhood and wonder are we next? This insecurity has led to a more hardened stand by the people and has thrown up results that everyone finds hard to swallow.
So are we better off with democratic elections in the Middle-East or are we better off with having our “guy” at the top for the sake of peace of security. The answer lies somewhere in between.
The militant group Hamas won an overwhelming majority in the recently concluded Palestinian Legislative elections. It also sent a stinging blow to Fatah and PM Qurei. Also, it has thrown a questin mark over the whole peace process and its very future. Within a matter of few weeks, the once “ontrack” peace process is now very much stalled and derailed. The Western leaders had hailed the elections as free and fair, even independant election observers were united in calling these elections legitimate. The calculation of the US and EU was that even though Hamas would make a few inroads into the Fatah seat tally, the overall majority would still be enjoyed by Fatah. But the Ballot box had its own story to tell. Hamas won 76 seats in the 130 odd Parliament. With that Hamas does not even need Fatah to form a coalition to rule, they are the rulers.
It is not surpirising why Hamas has reached where it has today, Hamas has long been associated with helping the Palestinians at the grassroot level. Providing civic amenities and building hospitals and schools (a role in which Fatah failed totally). Coupled with the fact that Hamas is seen as coruption-free organization, unlike the Fatah which was riddled with allegations of civil neglect and corruption. Hamas, has also pointed out that its main agenda will be serving the people of Palestinian areas and solving the acute problem of unemployment ( 50-60% of the youth are unemplyed). To that extent the rule of Hamas looks promising.
However, the troubling part about Hamas is the fact that it is a terror group, carrying out suicide bombings in Israel and also calling for Israel's destruction in its official Charter. Also, Hamas is linked to militant outfits like Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, which in turn are linked to Al-Qaeda. The very fact that such a group will be the ruling faction in Palestine is a matter of concern. It is clear that they will not negotitae with the Israelis on what the final contours of the state of Palestine will look like, infact, peace with Isreal does not feature on its agenda on its moment, but hopefully that should change. Analysts say that militant groups once in power become moderate, they often site the IRA in Northern Ireland and the paramilitary forces in South America as exapmles. However, this is the Middle East, and things are distinctly different from any where else in the World. So we are in a unpreecedented stage in the Middle East with only the future telling us what the outcome will be. It is also a possiblity that the result in Palestine will benefit the right-wing Benjimin Netanyahu and his Likud party. Israelis might wonder that if the very terrorists who carry out suicide bombings have formed the Government, it could ratlle many to the Right of Israeli politics.
But the election outcome in Palestine throws a larger question - is freedom of the ballot fuelling extremism? Are free societies choosing more hardline candidates? Is the Middle-East ready for Democracy? How better is the democratically elected Bush and his Neo-con agenda better than that of Hamas or Ahmedinijad? These questions have become increasingly pertinent with the situation in Iran, Syria and now Palestine, where voters have thrown up candidates which the West tells us are actually “anti-democracy”. There is a strange paradox, you want elections but provided “your”man gets the job! I feel that the reason for the people in the Middle East choosing more radical leaders is the fact that they see American troops in their neighbourhood and wonder are we next? This insecurity has led to a more hardened stand by the people and has thrown up results that everyone finds hard to swallow.
So are we better off with democratic elections in the Middle-East or are we better off with having our “guy” at the top for the sake of peace of security. The answer lies somewhere in between.
posted by Karan Thakur @ 8:04 PM
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