Is This Any Way To Run A Government?: P.A. Accountability

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Jun 13, 1997

Many Palestinians are unhappy that the Palestinian Authority has apparently misspent, embezzled and mismanaged vast sums of money at the expense of developing their fledgling nation. They are grumbling as people connected with the government drive around in fancy cars and live in expensive homes while the slums, infrastructure and neighborhoods continue to deteriorate and the standard of living drops further still.

What do people in this situation think of doing? Many complain, but their complaints fall on deaf ears or politicians say that the problems are the fault of someone else. But the problems remain. Some argue for violent actions against the Palestinian government, the Israelis or anyone else they could possibly attack. That only results in a crackdown on freedom of movement and causes further problems, not solutions.

The Palestinian government needs to be held accountable for their fiscal spending just as other governments are held to a similar standard. When nearly half of the budget ends up in the pockets of a select few, there is something seriously wrong with the system. It is time that the money that was given as aid to the Palestinian governing bodies to help establish a Palestinian state went to the people that it was meant to help.

Yasser Arafat, as chairman of the PLO should be held accountable for the failings of his administration since his is the final word on most issues affecting the future of the Palestinian people. His government would be wise to learn from the current problems and resolve themselves to fixing the problems. Failing to correct these issues will have dire consequences. Foreign aid to his government will drop off or be reduced to a point at which his government will be unable to pay for basic services. More importantly, the population will stop looking towards Arafat as their solution and see him as part of the problem. They will see that Arafat has chosen to look out for himself, not the people he claims he represents and his government will lose their legitimacy in the eyes of the Palestinian people. This is a time bomb waiting to happen.

In other news:

The Turkish Prime Minister, Necmettin Erbakan, at the behest of the Turkish military, agreed to relinquish power to the pro-Western secular coalition partner. Although this may only temporarily satisfy the demands of Turkey's military, it marks the third time in recent years that the military has imposed its will on the elected government because of their fear of Islamic extremism in the government

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