Opinion In everything but name

The Palestinian Authority has reformed with speed,and shown itself ready for statehood.

September 24, 2011 03:37 AM IST First published on: Sep 24, 2011 at 03:37 AM IST

JONAS GAHR STORE

The main issue before the United Nations General Assembly this week is the Palestinian quest for recognition. Are the Palestinians capable and ready to run a state? That question has been the focus of the ad hoc liaison committee,the donor support group to the Palestinian Authority,which is chaired by Norway. The committee is the only forum in which both the Palestinian Authority and the government of Israel are members,together with regional partners,the EU,the UN,the US,Russia and key donors. The committees method has been to work closely with the Palestinian prime minister,Salam Fayyad,to support reform of the Palestinian economy and institutions . Fayyads ambition has been to have adequate state institutions in place by September 2011. So what has the PA achieved,in tandem with the donor community?

According to the World Bank and the IMF,the Palestinian Authority has been remarkably successful in building public institutions. The World Bank affirms that Palestinian institutions have achieved a level above the threshold for a functioning state in key sectors such as revenue and expenditure management,economic development,service delivery and security and justice. In this respect,Palestine has achieved more than many full UN members,and has passed a tougher economic stress test than many EU member states. In recent years,illiteracy has almost been eliminated. There is a high standard of healthcare. Key planning and governance systems are in place,such as the Palestinian Monetary Authority and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

The West Bank has become a safer place under the rule of law,thanks to security reforms,judiciary reforms and training of the security forces. The budget deficit has been reduced from 27 per cent of GDP in 2008 to 11 per cent this year. Reliance on foreign aid has been halved. Revenue collection has doubled. Growth has been high,stimulated by structural reform. According to the World Bank,the major obstacle to further growth is the various physical and legal barriers imposed by the occupying power,Israel.

Then what about Gaza? The Gaza Strip is under the political and military control of Hamas,but it is the PA that is the main service provider to its people. Since 2008,it has spent $4 billion more than half of its external aid on salaries for teachers and doctors and to cover electricity and water expenses in Gaza. So the answer to my initial question whether the Palestinians can actually run a state is yes. By building robust institutions,the Palestinians and the donor community have taken a bottom-up approach to the peace process. The final status issues borders,security,refugees and Jerusalem can only be settled through negotiations,which is an example of a top-down approach. In an ideal world,these two approaches should have converged. Regretfully,they havent. This is the core of the impasse.

When UN member states consider how to cast their vote on the Palestinian issue,they should bear in mind that the main obstacle to the realisation of Palestinian statehood is the occupation. The Palestinians are otherwise fully capable of running a state.

The writer is foreign minister of Norway and chairman of the ad hoc liaison committee for assistance to the Palestinian Authority