Independent Palestine – the “Third Way” - Announces List of Candidates for Legislative Elections
Jerusalem,
15-12-05: The list of candidates running in upcoming legislative elections
as part of “Independent Palestine”, was officially announced by the head
of the list, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, at a press conference held today in
East Jerusalem. Dr.
Barghouthi, who was joined by Mr. Raja Shahadeh, Mr. Kamal Hassouneh, and
Mr. Eyad Masroujeh, began the conference by underlining the significance of
its location. He drew attention
to the fact that East Jerusalem remains under Israeli occupation, and
re-iterated Palestinian demands that it should serve as the capital of a
future Palestinian state. Independent
Palestine is the only list standing in Legislative elections to have made
such a political gesture thus far, despite the risks involved. He
emphasised the historic nature of the event, in that the Coalition brings
together a wide spectrum of Palestinian society on a unified platform, in a
context characterized by profound externally-imposed physical fragmentation,
and internal political divisions, The
coalition consists of independents, business leaders, academics, writers,
women, youth, labour movements, and the Palestinian National Initiative
(PNI, or “Al Mubadara” in Arabic), and draws upon widespread grassroots
support. It
provides a truly democratic and independent “third way” for the large
majority of silent and unrepresented Palestinian voters, who favour neither
the autocracy and corruption of the governing Fatah party, nor the
fundamentalism of Hamas. It
remains free of any ties with entrenched and well-established political
parties such as Fatah and Hamas. Dr.
Barghouthi added that while the coalition is open to cooperation with other
parties and lists, it will not permit its agenda to be co-opted, and will
not compromise on its demands for far-reaching internal reforms, including:
In
addition, the Coalition has formed a council composed of 102 leaders from
all sectors of Palestinian society, headed by Dr. Haider Abdel Shafi, to
which candidates are directly responsible.
In turn, it will support candidates with comprehensive policies and
programmes, and will produce a shadow cabinet. In
terms of external demands, the Independent Palestine coalition seeks a just
peace and an end to the occupation in all its manifestations, including:
To
this end, the coalition calls for unified, popular, non-violent resistance
against the Occupation, and for an international peace conference to be held
in order to revive the process towards resolving the conflict. The List The
list running for Legislative elections is composed of 41 candidates, 8 of
whom are women, representing 15 districts throughout the West Bank, East
Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip.
The Council The Coalition Council is composed of 101 members, 24 of whom are women, and includes the 41 candidates. It is headed by Dr. Haider Abdel Shafi.
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