SA mission hails Palestinian polls
Matome Sebelebele
10 January 2005
A South African observer mission has hailed the success of the Palestinian presidential elections, commending the Palestinians' commitment to democracy and good governance.
Former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has been overwhelmingly elected to replace long-time associate and Palestinian Peoples Organisation's leader Yasser Arafat, who died last year.
"The Palestinian people are to be praised for having made this election successful under the difficult and unique circumstances of occupation", the observers said in a statement.
The 11-member team was deployed to a number of major cities in the West Bank, including Jericho, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron, as well as surrounding villages and refugee camps.
Though there were no serious cases of violence, the team voiced its concern over Israeli blockage of certain checkpoints, which it said could be interpreted as "intimidation".
"The delegation is also
concerned with the situation in Gaza, particularly in Khan Younis, where an Israeli helicopter landed, showing overt force, which may be interpreted as intimidation", it said.
The closure of the Rafah border and the subsequent prevention of thousands of Palestinians from entering Rafah and casting their ballots raised questions on the prevention of access to voting stations, it added.
The observer team, led by Foreign Affairs portfolio committee chairperson Patrick Sibande, recommended that the Palestinians strengthen voter education to ensure maximum participation in the election process.
"It is hoped that this would result in positive developments in resuming negotiations between Israel and Palestine and hence the establishment of a sovereign, independent state of Palestine", the team said
It urged the international community to throw its weight behind the stalled peace process and end the impasse between Israel and Palestine.
"As a delegation, we
support our government's commitment to assisting the leadership of Palestine to achieve and consolidate peace, stability and security", it said.
Source: BuaNews
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