Muhammad Shtayyeh’s meeting with ambassadors, representatives and consuls of European countries in Ramallah (Palestinian Prime Minister’s Office)

Ramallah -

During a meeting in his office in Ramallah, Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, yesterday, Tuesday, briefed a group of ambassadors, representatives and consuls of European countries on “the terms of the new phase of implementing the government reform program,” and said that they include the judicial, security, administrative and financial system.

Muhammad Shtayyeh spoke about strengthening the judicial system and making structural changes in it, implementing the law and addressing the duration of litigation in the courts, appointing new governors, stopping extensions for those of retirement age, and approving laws to regulate the security sector, among others.

Before that, at the beginning of his government session last Monday, the Prime Minister spoke at length about the reform program, and said that he had presented it to many countries and donors, noting that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “stressed the importance of holding general elections as soon as the conditions for that are available.”

The Prime Minister added, "The reform program is for the sake of our children, and the prestige of Palestine and its image before the world, while we realize that the root of the problem lies in the occupation."

In light of what Muhammad Shtayyeh announced, Al Jazeera Net asked a group of Palestinian analysts about the seriousness of the announced reform program? Is it verifiable? Then what is the standard or reference to determine whether the action taken is a reform or a reproduction of reality? Finally: Where is the problem and what needs to be fixed?

Old New

The writer and political analyst, Suleiman Bisharat, points out that talk about reform in Palestinian institutions is not new, but rather preceded the government of Muhammad Shtayyeh, but none of the announced plans were implemented.

He said, “Mohammed Shtayyeh’s announcement comes at a time when pressure is intensifying to bring about administrative reforms, and then reach what is called “renewed authority,” in preparation for the day after the war on Gaza, and to satisfy a European and Western demand, although it does not come within comprehensive Palestinian elections that could produce governments or regulatory bodies.

He added that the aforementioned reforms have a political aspect, which is a message to the Palestinian citizen that the government is paying attention to public files “in an attempt to restore lost confidence in the street and society, following a gap and crisis of confidence that deepened as a result of its weak position during the war on Gaza.”

Suleiman Bisharat adds that the Palestinian Authority suffers from a state of internal administrative slackness, as a result of the cumulative state of general corruption in various positions and locations due to the failure to hold elections, the presence of institutions that have no role, and large numbers of employees in various state institutions, embassies and consulates.

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▪️ We announce the launch of the new phase of implementing the reform program in the judicial, security, administrative and financial system.

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Lack of standards

Although the reform plan came to "strengthen the authority's position and its administrative structure," Suleiman doubts the seriousness of those reforms "for the main reason that they are not based on the references that are supposed to produce a democratic state, such as the Legislative Council."

He added that any serious reforms are based on “activating the role of the Palestine Liberation Organization and oversight bodies over the government, but currently the government itself is putting forward a program to reform itself, and tomorrow when its president comes out and says: I carried out reform, what is the criterion or standard by which we measure reform? How will we hold it accountable or monitor it?”

With the absence of oversight bodies, Suleiman pointed to the marginalization of civil society institutions, which “are no longer an effective oversight tool for the government’s performance directly.”

He concludes that the reform process lacks tools, legislation, references and standards, “and this is a dilemma.”

What the Europeans want

In turn, Issa Amr, a prominent Palestinian activist who has extensive relations with foreign activists who support the Palestinian cause and politicians from around the world, explains that among what the Europeans want from the authority is administrative reform within the institutions of the authority.

He added that what is also required is to fight administrative corruption, nepotism, and mediation, involve young people in institutions, reform many dictatorial laws and systems, and hold elections.

Regarding whether the United States and the European countries supporting the authority accept the reforms announced by Muhammad Shtayyeh, Issa Amr said that there is no alternative for them to the authority, “which did not originally allow for an alternative, and remains a partner in maintaining the status quo.”

He added that a corrupt person cannot bring about reform, accusing the Palestinian Authority system and the Fatah movement it leads of “corruption.”

Issa believes that reform begins with independent Palestinian bodies first investigating corruption charges, returning public money, restoring rights to their owners, and enacting laws with absolute transparency.

He said that what is required of Palestinians is “Palestinian, Arab, Islamic and international pressure to reform the Palestine Liberation Organization and elect a legislative or national council that will lead the desired reforms.”

What about judicial reform?

In his comment on the part related to judicial reform, former judge, lawyer Ahmed Al-Ashqar, says that the reforms required in the field of the judiciary are “lifting the hand of the executive authority from managing judicial affairs.”

He referred to what he called "blatant interference" by the executive authority in the work of the judiciary in 2019 by issuing a decree law by President Mahmoud Abbas, "according to which the Sharia Supreme Judicial Council was dissolved, and a transitional Supreme Judicial Council was appointed."

The former judge added, "This was for reform reasons, and from that date until today the judiciary has become an integral part of the executive authority, and the appointment of the head of the Judicial Council became in the hands of the president, so the judiciary was taken hostage in the hands of the executive authority."

Ahmed Al-Ashqar continued, “Now, after 5 years of alleged reform, the government comes out again and says that it wants to reform the judicial system, and this implicitly means failure and that what was done previously was not judicial reform.”

He said that what is required for reform to become serious is “to dissolve the current Transitional Supreme Judicial Council, cancel the amendments to the Judicial Authority Law (2019), dissolve the Supreme Constitutional Court, and rebuild the administrative judiciary system, and without that there can be no reform.”

He pointed out that legal amendments have taken place in recent years, "the aim of which is to place judges under the sword of the executive authority's sanctions. Some of them were referred to retirement, and others were subjected to the wishes of the executive authority."

He concluded that any effective reforms "will not take place unless there is a parliament for the Palestinian Arab people that decides and implements what it wants, because judicial reform cannot come from the womb of an executive authority."

Source: Al Jazeera