The recent factional strife in Gaza as a result of botched assassination attempts and the murder of the three children of a Fatah leader could be an indicator that the Hamas-led government there is losing some of its internal support. That at least is probably the hope of US and other Western officials, who are pleased by Mahmoud Abbas's call for early elections to try and stabilize the country. The only problem is that the current government is supposed to be in place until 2010, and early elections may not be constitutional.

Of course, the Western support is likely to hinge on the results of the election. That's the real problem with democracy, the results don't always turn out the way you want them too (a fact that American Democrats have had to deal with for the past six years) but once it's over, you're stuck with whoever was elected even if they weren't your pick. Such was the case with Hamas, who dominated elections last year, precipitating a stoppage of all economic aid from Western Europe that has put a significant strain on the functioning of the Palestinian government.

Some Palestinians aren't happy about Abbas's idea though, claiming that he and Fatah are trying to undermine the legitimacy of the Hamas government.

Maybe it will. But how would that be any different from what's currently going on in Palestine? Still, elections that deviate from prescribed constitutional procedures can be a dangerous, double-edged sword. Just because they could help Fatah this time around and hurt Hamas's chance of keeping control of the government doesn't mean that a swing in popularity back towards Hamas couldn't do the exact same thing to Fatah a year from now.