What political system for Palestine? lessons learnt from the political crisis of, and the institutional Deadlock in, the Palestinian Authority form of government according to the basic law

Abstract

This paper speculates about the political system for the state (to be) of Palestine (if any).1 The point of departure is the Palestinian Authority (PA), in control, since 1994, of parts of the occupied Palestinian territory, i.e. the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. One may object, rightly: “Why do you intend to study the PA, if you are interested in the State (to be) of Palestine?” The simple answer would be, because I am not an astrologer. I cannot read the future. I do not have the authority, the knowledge or the will to do so. A more insistent reader, not satisfied with this explanation may observe, rightly, that the PA is substantially different from the state (to be) of Palestine, the former being a self-government authority while the latter refers to a sovereign entity. Besides, the argument may continue, each has different constitutional grounds to start with: the Basic Law (hereinafter BL) for the former, and the Palestinian Constitution for the latter. Justifying the use of the PA as point of departure for the speculation on the political system for a future Palestine requires deeper digging. Two sets of reasons justify this use of the PA