On Sunday, Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will go to the polls to choose the successor to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died in a Paris hospital in November. With the Middle East locked in a vicious cycle of hatred and bloodshed, it is hoped that the election is completed successfully and paves the way for enduring peace in the region. During the campaigning that ended Friday, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), maintained an overwhelming lead over six other candidates. A victory for Mr. Abbas, the candidate of the PLO's leading Fatah faction, is regarded as a certainty.

The ballot matters a great deal not only to the Palestinian electorate but to the international community as well. It is widely believed that, with Mr. Abbas at the helm, the stalled Middle East peace process will get back on track. Three reasons can be given for this:

First, Mr. Abbas, a moderate, is in favor with both Israel and the United States, which has played a mediatory role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. During the campaign, Mr. Abbas called for a total Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, saying Israel should leave the territories it occupied in the third Middle East War of 1967.