Publication
Omar Shaban Ismail · QudsNet · 2021
An analysis of the Swiss Paper as a framework for addressing the deepest consequences of the Palestinian political divide and opening a path toward national unity.
An analysis of the Swiss Paper as a framework for addressing the deepest consequences of the Palestinian political divide and opening a path toward national…
PalThink for Strategic Studies
The term "the Swiss Paper" was given to the roadmap proposed to resolve one of the most significant consequences of the division, and one of the problems that has always been a point of contention between the Hamas movement and the Palestinian National Authority: the file of the civil servants that arose out of the internal division of 2007. It was prepared by PalThink for Strategic Studies, the Swiss organisation swisspeace and the United Nations Development Programme, with the facilitation, backing and support of the Swiss government, represented by its ambassador to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
The "Swiss Paper" roadmap was worked on quietly between Gaza and Ramallah in the years from 2012, and the work continued beyond the formation of the national unity government in 2014. The "Swiss Paper" roadmap is the only product that addresses this thorny file in a comprehensive and professional manner. It was referred to, and what it contained was drawn upon, in the rounds of reconciliation between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, the most recent of them the October 2017 agreement in Cairo. With talk renewed of the legislative elections scheduled for 22 May, and with the handling of the civil servants file deferred to the Palestinian government due to be formed after the elections, it may therefore be useful to place the "Swiss Paper" roadmap on the agenda of the coming government for discussion.
With Hamas's seizure of the reins of government in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah issued a decree on 27 August 2007 containing instructions to its employees in the Gaza Strip not to report for work under the Hamas government, which President Abu Mazen had declared dismissed. The Palestinian government headed at that time by Dr Salam Fayyad, together with the teachers' union and other public-sector unions, called on public-sector employees in the Gaza Strip to sit at home while their salaries continued to be paid by the Palestinian government in Ramallah. This decision placed Palestinian public-sector employees in an unenviable position: some of them abided by the decision and sat at home; a second group did not abide by it, for a variety of reasons, some personal and some professional, which led the government in Ramallah to cut off their salaries for failing to comply with the decision; a third group managed to obtain permission from the government in Ramallah to continue working without having their salaries cut. The number of civil public-sector employees at that time was estimated at 35,000, most of them in the education and health sectors. This decision, which came shortly before the start of the school year in September 2007, led to severe disruption in every aspect of life in the Strip, especially in vital sectors such as: health, education, social services, family affairs and others. The dismissed Gaza government, "as it was called at the time", realised that it faced a major challenge in preventing the collapse of basic services, particularly since it was not prepared for such a situation. The dismissed Gaza government therefore hired thousands of new employees, especially in the health and education sectors, to fill the vacuum, and it was observed that many of those hired in haste were not qualified to the required degree. Some employees of the Palestinian Authority's government continued to work with the Hamas government while being guaranteed the same salary and job grade (their salaries were cut off for not complying with the government's decision), while some Palestinian Authority public-sector employees were able to return to work with permission from the government in Ramallah. By the end of 2013, the situation in the public sector in the Gaza Strip comprised the following categories:
· New employees working with the Gaza government and drawing their salaries from it.
· Palestinian Authority employees whose salaries were cut off for non-compliance, working with the Gaza government and drawing their salaries from it.
· Palestinian Authority employees (in the education and health sectors, some 10,000 employees) who continued to work with the Gaza government and draw their salaries from the government in Ramallah.
· Palestinian Authority employees who abided by the decision to sit at home and draw their salaries from the Palestinian government in Ramallah.
These figures changed over time, as thousands of the employees who had initially boycotted work with the dismissed Gaza government began gradually to return to work. This came with the emergence of a need for them (health, education, social services and civil defence), especially during the three wars on the Gaza Strip. In the wake of the 2008-2009 war, President Mahmoud Abbas asked all employees to return to their work, but the return was only partial, which left the problem unresolved. On the other hand, because of the severe decline in the Gaza government's revenues beginning in September 2013, the Gaza government became unable to pay its employees' salaries in full, so that a Gaza government employee came to receive 40 to 50 per cent of his salary, and on an irregular basis.
The roadmap, the Swiss efforts:
· The philosophy of the "Swiss Paper" roadmap rested on an important and fundamental principle, namely that the consequences of the division are numerous and intertwined. Since it is difficult to address those consequences all at once, it became necessary and logical to follow a gradual, phased approach in dealing with them. It was likewise essential to work on building trust between the two sides of the division by achieving a breakthrough in one of the most problematic files. The choice of the civil servants file was a very apt one, because it touches the concerns and the affairs of thousands of employees and their families, which would create broad support for a comprehensive reconciliation process later on.
· Switzerland is a neutral state and is not a member of the European Union, and it is therefore free of the Quartet's conditions, which prevent Western states from communicating with the Hamas government. This position allowed Switzerland to communicate freely with all parties. Switzerland has accumulated distinguished experience in bringing about reconciliation in many conflict areas, such as: Colombia, Indonesia, Sudan, Chad, Burma and other conflict zones around the world. The Swiss government obtained the approval of the Gaza government and of the office of President Abu Mazen for Swiss mediation on this file, with an emphasis on full cooperation from the official institutions in Gaza and Ramallah (the Ministry of Finance, the Civil Service Bureau, the ministries of health and education, and the unions) in order to complete the work.
· The Swiss government commissioned PalThink for Strategic Studies as the Palestinian partner, the Swiss organisation swisspeace, which specialises in conflict resolution, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as the international agency, to draw up the plan of work and to carry it through.
The methodology of the work and the principles governing it:
The work continued for more than a year and involved intensive and quiet travel between Gaza and Ramallah. It included the conduct of dozens of focus meetings with thousands of employees in the Gaza Strip, through face-to-face interviews and the completion of electronic questionnaires, which were analysed using computer software. The aim of this was to update the statistics and to learn employees' attitudes towards the problem and the possible solutions. Numerous meetings were also held with civil-society and international organisations in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.
- The "Swiss Paper" roadmap was produced in a fully participatory manner and at every administrative and political level. While the role of the institutions (PalThink, swisspeace and UNDP) was confined to gathering statistics and meeting the official bodies at the technical level, as well as employees and civil-society and international organisations, the Swiss government worked to promote the plan of work at the political level in Ramallah, Gaza, Cairo, Doha, Brussels and other relevant capitals.
- The "Swiss Paper" roadmap offered solutions for integrating the Gaza government's employees in a manner consistent with the Palestinian Civil Service Law and not exceeding it, as some had supposed. The roadmap affirmed its respect for the Civil Service Law and the Palestinian Basic Law, and the application of the principles of transparency and professionalism in public office.
- Work on this file was by no means easy; on the contrary, it was attended by a great deal of doubt and mistrust, since the effort to produce the roadmap was the first attempt since the division occurred to discuss a contentious file. The level of trust between the two sides of the division was very low. Preserving independence in the work and guaranteeing professional and personal integrity were extremely important principles for winning the parties' trust and cooperation.
- The "Swiss Paper" roadmap rested on a fundamental principle: "a regular salary for everyone who works (the employees of the Gaza government), and everyone who receives a salary must work (the employees of the National Authority)".
- The Swiss Paper offered a precise analysis of the needs of the Palestinian public sector at present and in the future, of the available resources, and of how to distribute them in a way that serves the goals of development in Palestine. The paper also included a plan of international financial support for implementing the integration of the employees, training them, developing the public sector and making up for the gap in knowledge and experience caused by years of absence from work. The paper likewise affirmed the right of new graduates to obtain jobs, so as to contribute to solving the crises of unemployment among new graduates.
- The paper included proposals for voluntary retirement for those who do not wish to return to work, whether because they have left the Gaza Strip, or are unable to work for health or social reasons, or have taken up another job, or own a private business. The Swiss Paper also provided for the formation of a legal and administrative committee to supervise the integration process, and for the formation of committees of specialised experts to assist in the integration process with external technical support.
- The paper offered visions, tools and creative solutions for reinstating the Palestinian Authority's employees in their places of work or in similar places of work, and for integrating the Gaza government's employees on the basis of objective criteria in compliance with the Palestinian Civil Service Law, which requires specific qualifications for holding senior posts. The paper also proposed the possibility of absorbing some of them, according to their wishes, into civil-society organisations and into international institutions, particularly UNRWA.
- The Swiss Paper gave employees the right of objection and appeal in the event that they were not satisfied with the integration or the reinstatement. The roadmap would not be applied without the agreement of all the employees and without cooperation and flexibility being shown by all parties in order to resolve the crisis. The paper also required formal endorsement by the Palestinian government, which would thereupon call on its employees to return to work in the manner proposed by the roadmap, and a positive environment welcoming their return would be provided. The paper further recommended keeping the public sector free of politicisation and separating it from any political faction, which entails preventing and removing every manifestation of politicisation in the public sector, such as pictures, slogans and so on.
- In the course of producing the roadmap, many employees expressed their welcome for these efforts, which would return them to their jobs, restoring to them their sense of being and their contentment with themselves, restoring to them their social acceptance and enabling them to serve their families and their community.
- The "Swiss Paper" roadmap did not stop at addressing the consequences of the division; it also included a plan for developing and modernising the Palestinian public sector in the coming years, since it would be accompanied by a broad reform programme for the Palestinian public sector that would raise the level of performance and strengthen coherence and professionalism. The "Swiss Paper" roadmap also aimed to raise the level of the health and education services, both of which had witnessed considerable deterioration because of the boycott decisions and the deprivation of dozens of competent employees of the ability to continue their work.
The agreement of the parties concerned:
With the formation of the national consensus government in June 2014, the Swiss government announced its readiness to work with the Palestinian government on implementing the roadmap, in such a way that it would be applied first in the health and education sectors, given the pressing need to improve performance in these two sectors and to enable the consensus government to present a practical model that would dismantle one of the files of the division and build trust. President Mahmoud Abbas announced his acceptance of the Swiss Paper at the joint press conference with the President of the Swiss Confederation, Simonetta Sommaruga, in March 2015. The Hamas movement likewise announced its acceptance of the roadmap.
It is worth noting here that the Swiss effort on the civil servants file was followed, coordinated and supported by some Western parties which did not enjoy the same degree of flexibility and freedom in communicating with all the parties in Palestine.
Topic: National Reconciliation — Text © QudsNet — archived here with attribution to the source. — Original source