The Steering Committee held its fourth meeting on June 13, 2009 with the presence of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. A number of issues relating to the election have been discussed at the meeting. There was consensus on most of these points, but there was lack of agreement on one point concerning the electoral system. The committee members noted the main points of agreement, listed below, and based on subsequent consultations recommended a compromise solution on the electoral system, with the aim of contributing to agreement on these points at the political level:

Abdel Rahman Abu Arafeh welcoming President Carter during the meeting

First: the points of consensus:

• The date of the election: the date of the elections on 25/1/2010 was praised, stressing the commitment to this date, as well as respecting periodic elections.

• Thresholds: the most appropriate percentage for all was the 2% to give an opportunity to small parties and independents to participate and win, but not concentrate the power in the major parties only.

• Voter registration update: there is a need for updating voter registration in both West Bank and Gaza since it has nothing to do with the political situation. All factions should push it forward so that the Central Election Commission can conduct it the West Bank and Gaza to be ready for any agreed future election.

• The financing of electoral campaigns: the funding and expenditures should be determined and controlled in order not to have a similar situation to the previous elections, which lacked a mechanism to carry out this task.

• Women‘s quota: there is a need to support women through the quota until the situation is getting changed and women could be empowered to participate freely and without the quota system in elections.
 
• Respecting the results of the election: the need to draw lessons from previous elections and not to repeat the same experiment which reflected the lack of respect to election results.

Points of consensus agreed at previous meetings:

Local elections: Local elections should be held at due dates based on the same system of last local elections because local authorities serve the community away from the appointment.

• The independence of the Central Elections Commission: The independence comes through the appointment of the Chairman and members of the Commission by PA President and approval by the Legislative Council.
 

• Electoral Court: there was no enforcement of electoral court decisions; therefore, there should be an appropriate punishment against anyone violating the law.
• Christian Quota: it should be appropriate to the increase in the number of Legislative Council members.
 
• The age of the candidates: The age of candidate was preferred to be less than the age stated in the current and previous laws to enable the youth of more participation.
 
Recommended compromise solution on the outstanding issue (electoral system):

• The electoral system and in particular the opposition of Hamas movement to full proportional representation. The proposals ranged between proportional representation and mixed one with different percentages of the later. In this context, and to exit the crisis a proportional system could be represented by75% and the majority system by 25%. An agreement on these percentages could lead to consensus and to hold elections on time.  The next elected Legislative Council could later decide to amend or approve this system for future elections. 

• Many issues are related to the political environment at the local and international levels. If there is progress in the Cairo dialogue, elections could be conducted in the due time. If the Palestinian parties reach consensus on peace, democracy and reform, the international community would deal with the upcoming government and respect the results of elections.

Participants in the meeting:
- Fatah
- Change and Reform Bloc
- Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
- Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
- The People‘s Party
- The Palestinian Arab Front
- Palestinian Popular Struggle Front
- As-Saiqa Organization
- Arab Liberation Front
- Palestinian Democratic Union "FEDA"
- Third Way
- The Central Election Commission
- Civil society institutions