The Palestinian legislative council: A critical assessment

Journal of Palestine Studies

Volumn 26, Issue 4, 1997, Pages 90-97

  Abu Amr, Ziad ^a  

^a Polit Comm Palestinian Leg Cncl ^*

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0003218337     PISSN: 0377919X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/2537910     Document Type: Article

References (13)

1. These forces included the PLO nationalist factions of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), as well as the Islamist Hamas and Islamic Jihad. However, large numbers of followers of these factions cast their votes for candidates of several different political groups.
2. Ziad Abu-Amr, "Pluralism and the Palestinians," Journal of Democracy 7, no. 3 (July 1996), p. 84.
3. This sentiment was expressed to the author by many voters on the day of the elections when they were asked why they were casting their votes.
4. See PLC Resolution No. 107/21/1, adopted 11-12 September 1966.
5. As of mid-1997, at least eleven Palestinians had died while in the PA's jails.
6. See PLC Resolution No. 149/31/1, adopted 12-13 February 1997. For PA Justice Minister Frayh Abu-Madayn's condemnation of the security services' conduct in this case, see the testimony submitted to the PLC on 12-13 February 1997.
7. A report published in May 1997 by the General Oversight Office, which belongs to the executive, revealed that $326 million, about one quarter of the PA's budget, had been misused or wasted. Both the president of the PA and the PLC ordered the formation of special committees to investigate the report's findings.
8. Center for Palestine Research and Studies (CPRS), Public Opinion Poll No. 25, Nablus, 26-28 December 1996. 9. CPRS, Public Opinion Poll No. 27, Nablus, 10-12 April 1997.
9. Jerusalem Media and Communications Center, Public Opinion Poll No. 19, Jerusalem, April 1997.
10. For an elaboration on this point, see Abu-Amr, "Pluralism and the Palestinians."
11. For the specific responsibilities entrusted to the PLC, see the Declaration of Principles, Annex I, Protocol on the Mode and Conditions of Elections; and the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza, Annex II, Protocol Concerning Elections.
12. Reference here is made to Daoud Kuttab, who was detained by the Palestinian police in Ramallah on 20 May 1997 and was released a few days later. Kuttab represented al-Quds University, which signed a contract with the PLC to transmit the council sessions. It is believed that Kuttab's arrest was directed at the PLC, which authorized the transmission.
13. Several Fatah members cast a noconfidence vote when Arafat presented his cabinet to the PLC. Some Fatah members often lead the criticism of the government on different issues, but this conduct may sometimes be characterized as internal competition or jockeying for power.