Hamas Begins Secretive Internal Elections

Hamas’s elections precede the upcoming general elections in Palestine. (Wikimedia)

Hamas began internal elections on February 19 to determine the leadership of various sub-regions, the membership of the General Shura Council, and the leadership of its politburo ahead of general Palestinian legislative elections in May. 

Hamas, a militant Islamist organization that was founded during the first Palestinian intifada in 1987,  refuses to acknowledge the existence of the Israeli state to this day and frequently engages in rocket and missile attacks against Israel. This stance, along with its religious overtones, brought Hamas into direct conflict with the more secular PLO, the other major political entity in the Palestinian territories. After Hamas won a majority of the seats in the Palestinian Parliament in 2006, the two groups broke into outright conflict. A peace brokered by Egypt left Hamas with administrative control over the Gaza Strip. 

Hamas’ internal elections are held every four years in complete secrecy to avoid the involvement of Israeli security services. The organization conducts its elections in four main regions: the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the diaspora, and Israeli jails. Voters in each region elect regional Shuras, which make up the General Shura Council. The General Shura Council then votes for the 15 politburo members, who hold most of the executive power. To avoid security issues, voters don’t choose from a list of candidates but instead fill in the names of candidates for themselves. 

This year, Hamas leadership sought to delay the process so that they could focus their efforts on the upcoming general Palestinian legislative elections, which will be held this spring for the first time since 2006. The General Shura Council denied this request.

Wissam Afifa, the director of Al-Aqsa satellite channel in Gaza, said that the Shura Council’s insistence on holding elections was an attempt to show Palestinians and the international community that Hamas is “not only an armed faction” and is dedicated to “exercising its organizational democracy.” 

Afifa notes that these elections provide an opportunity for Hamas to pump new blood into its base, allowing the organization to better adapt to changing times. This election has already demonstrated change within Hamas. For one, this was the first election in which Israeli prisoners were included as a fourth region with e representation in the politburo. 

Up-and-coming voices in Hamas such as Ghazi Hamad, head of the Ministry of Social Development in Gaza, argue that now is the time to “break the tradition and adopt change, frankness, boldness and qualitative action” in respect to elections, or else risk Hamas’ succumbing to internal and external pressures.