Saturday's announcement by the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, that he intends to set a date for forthcoming presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections was welcomed by the press. It will be the first time there has been voting of any kind since the 1996 general election, which was boycotted by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The announcement was "evidence that a new course is being planned for the Palestinian Authority [PA], and, by extension, for all Palestinians living in the occupied territories", said Saudi Arabia's Arab News. "Mr. Arafat's remaining in power is [now] a decision that basically rests with his people."

The significance of the elections was underscored by Pakistan's Daily Times. Mr. Arafat "has been the Palestinian movement's sole leader almost from the day he founded it in 1959". After a year in which Palestinian leadership has been mired in controversy, "Mr. Arafat's ability to symbolize the Palestinian cause throughout the world has worn thin ... but any successor would be more obscure."

Al-Hayat al-Jadidah said factions within Palestine viewed the election as "a guarantee for fighting corruption and going ahead with reform". The Palestinian paper also reported that, for many groups, "supporting Mr. Arafat's call requires asking the UN immediately to send a team of observers to supervise the fairness of elections."

Even though it was "long overdue", the PA has no constitution determining fixed electoral rules, Gulf Times explained, so Mr. Arafat "holds all the cards in his hand", and "can even cancel the election if he wishes". Still, the Qatar daily hoped "a new, youthful generation of leaders will emerge from this process" who "will prove more successful in meeting the expectations of the Palestinian people".

"The current Palestinian governance system ... is in shambles" and elections are "a way out of this mess", reckoned the Lebanon Daily Star. It urged the Palestinians to "work overtime to make these elections a resounding national success" in order to "push the process of credible popular sovereignty throughout an Arab world still distorted and constrained by stifling autocracy in almost every land."