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Originally Posted by G-Man  This seems strange - I will not proclaim to have an indepth knowledge of the working of the Palestinian leadership structure but to hold a democratic election but then refuse power to those who were elected would defeat the whole purpose of holding the election in the first place no? It doesn't seem like democracy to me. |
Winning an election does not correlate to sole power in the Palestinian system. Much like the Israeli system, the majority party has to share power with the minority parties in order to get anything done. Hamas won the majority of votes, but Fatah also garnered a considerable number.
Each party is then represented in high office and parliament by the vote ratio. According to this formula then, Hamas obtained the Prime Minister position (Haniyeh) and Fatah obtained the President position (Abbas). They each have different powers under the Palestinian system. Under this system, the President appoints Cabinet ministers and can also dissolve parliament and call for a new general election. The majority party in parliament must cooperate with the minority party(s) in order to obtain enough yes votes to pass proposed legislation.
With the Hamas coup in Gaza, Haniyeh and Hamas administer the Gaza enclave, and Abbas and Fatah consolidated their power in the West Bank. In simple terms then, the Palestinian administrative offices and parliament were fractured by force. For all practical purposes, Palestine is bifurcated.