Posted on 12/08/2004 11:54:09 AM PST by yonif
Emergency Assistance for the Election of the Ra'ees of the Palestinian
Interim Self-Government Authority
December 7, 2004
www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2004/12/1207.html
1. On December 7 (Tue), Japan decided to extend emergency assistance totaling about $1.06 million to help the election of the President (Ra'ees) of the Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority on January 9, 2005, to be carried out in a fair and smooth manner.
2. As Mr. Yasser Arafat, Ra'ees of the Palestinian Authority, passed away on November 11, the Palestinian Authority plans to have an election on January 9, 2005, to decide his successor. The Central Election Committee has recently asked the donor countries for donations to help in carrying out the election. In response to this request, Japan has decided to extend about $690,000 for the Committee's voter education activities, and about $370,000 to support U.N. liaison and assistance activities of the electoral observers through the Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
3. Japan recognizes that the implementation of the election in a fair and smooth manner is important in establishing the authenticity of the new leadership of the Palestinian Authority and promoting the Middle East peace process. Japan intends to continue to proactively tackle the issues of the Middle East peace.
Boy the Palis are putting 'the touch' on everyone.
Well the West has been asking for elections for years now and now we are getting them.
The only people running in these "elections" are terrorists.
Yup well it happens. The best you can hope for is a more moderate candidate to win. IT is better than the current situation and gives the WEst someone to pressure over terrorism.
Would you prefer no elections?
I don't recall that was the strategy to get the Taliban to "reform" so that it stopped supporting Al Queda. The Taliban was targeted as Al Queda, and the Palestinian Authority needs to be viewed as an entity no different than how Hamas or Islamic Jihad is viewed by the west.
The strategy from the US and the others in the Quartet have always been for elections. There is more than one entity running in this elections from islamic groups, secular groups and others.
This is not something that has happened overnight but is something the West has been asking for for a long time.
The idea of the elections is surely to change who is in control of the PA. If it changes for the better then we might be able to achieve something if not then we have someone to target.
The idea that we not support attempts at democracy seems inane and pointless.
A culture of death and war will not elect leaders of peace. Elections will do nothing. What needs to happen is the removal of the regime which perpetuates this cult in the minds of the Arabs.
It doesn't matter who is in control of the PA, just like it didn't matter who controlled the Baathist Party in Baghdad, or the Taliban in Kabul.
The idea that we not support attempts at democracy seems inane and pointless
The fact remains that all of these attemps at "peace" over the years, since the early 90s, have led to nothing but tragedy.
What needs to happen is the removal of the regime which perpetuates this cult in the minds of the Arabs
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We have done this with Iraq. If George Bush is willing to pursue democracy this way then it is fine by me.
The elections are not that far away and I feel it is imprudent to dismiss them already. If a moderate is elected that Sharon and Bush are willing to deal with then I am fine by that.
We already know the results of the elections. It will probably be Abu Mazen getting "elected."
And if Sharon and Bush think they can extract something from him then this is good!
Sharon and Bush know the situation well. As I say if they think they can something out of it then good.
I really hope something good does happen now that Arafat is dead and Saddam is in prison.
The only good that will happen is for the terrorist PLO side. They continue to have the world fooled....After all their decades of murder and destruction, the world still thinks its sane to deal with them.
Well there are not that many options.
Either secular terrorist our Islamist ones.
This situation should have been sorted out one way or another decades ago. It is a festering wound that has not been allowed to heal.
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