As what many believe will be a decisive round of unity talks for Palestinian factions approach, the 13 participating Palestinian factions are abuzz with comments and criticism around the contents of Egypt’s “Conciliation Proposal,” a detailed plan based on the cumulative agreements from several rounds of talks in Cairo.

The elements of the Egyptian plan include proposals on elections, security, detainees, government, and the function and structure of a supervisory committee to oversee the process.

Elections

According to the Egyptian proposal, Palestinian legislative, National Council and presidential elections should be held during the first half of 2010. While Hamas agreed with the proposal’s plan to delay elections by a few months, going as far as suggesting the elections be postponed for a year, Fatah said elections must be held “on time and without delay.”

The proposal set the election system as a mix of 25% constituencies and 75% proportional representation with a minimum pass rate of 2%. This is what Fatah said it would compromise to, initially requesting total proportional representation, while Hamas requested a 40/60 split. The 2006 elections had a 50/50 split. Hamas also requested the pass rate for inclusion in the governing bodies be raised to 7%.

The votes would be split among 11 constituencies in the West Bank and five in Gaza.

Other factions, for the most part demand full proportional representation in the elections, since it gives smaller parties a better chance of being represented in the Palestinian Legislative Council. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) for example, won three seats in the PLC, all from the proportional system. If it was a full proportional representation the party would have likely earned six or seven seats total.

With similar reasoning the parties reject a 7% pass rate, since it would decrease the number of parties represented in the PLC. Some fear only Hamas and Fatah would be represented. An exception to this is the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) under Mustafa Barghouthi, who got more than 7% in the last election.

Security

The Egyptian proposal suggests that Palestinian president issue a decree ordering the formation of a higher security committee consisting of professional officers to be monitored by Egypt and other Arab countries. This committee would take charge of reconstructing the Palestinian security services, which were the principal parties in the internecine clashes of 2007.

On signing the agreement, Palestinians would see 3,000 new police, national security and civil defense officers appointed in the Gaza Strip. The number would steadily increase until the day of elections.

Hamas expressed reservations, saying it preferred forces to be restructured on a “nationalistic basis,” i.e. to be restructured in the West Bank and Gaza simultaneously with an eye to maintaining a balance of Hamas and Fatah supporters in the ranks. Current Hamas-affiliated security officers in Gaza, they say, must be confident they will not lose their jobs, and the party insists that a similar number of Hamas-affiliated officers be appointed in the West Bank.

Fatah insists the reconstruction be based on “profestionalism,” where the best officers are appointed when it is most appropriate to appoint them. The objection is based principally on the belief that Hamas terminology implies the current security services in the West Bank are not built on a national basis. Fatah agrees on Arab countries’ supervision, but are wary of the appointment of Hamas-affiliated security officers in the West Bank because of possible conflicts with security agreements with Israel. Fatah suggested that former security officers in Gaza restore their jobs.

Detainees

An agreement on the Egyptian proposal would see the immediate preparation of a list of those Hamas and Fatah believe are detained for political reasons. The lists will be passed to Egypt, who will consult human rights groups and determine which will be released before the agreement goes into effect.

Transitional Government

Ahead of elections parties would form a joint committee to administer the West Bank and Gaza Strip to ensure unity is maintained. The committee would act as a transitional government.

Fatah prefers using the Fayyad government as a central government, as they believe this would constitute recognition of Haniyeh’s government and what Fatah calls the Hamas “coup” in Gaza. The party also said Hamas would also have to recognize previous agreements vis-à-vis Israel, which they would likely refuse to do. They propose each faction nominate independent candidates unaffiliated with their party.

Hamas, on the other hand, supports the proposal and approves of the implicit legitimization of the Gaza government. The party also requested that it name the transitional prime minister. While the party has not refused to recognize international agreements on, it has indicated there are reservations about automatically having to accept them.

Other factions believe a transitional government would be dominated by Hamas and Fatah, leaving them in the cold. The PFLP and Islamic Jihad, however, said they would refuse to join a transitional government as it is proposed by Egypt.

The Supervising Committee

This committee would help implement the fine points of the unity agreement through coordinating between all sides. The committee would be responsible for the maintenance of a positive atmosphere as the agreement is implemented and would also oversee the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.