''The President'' ( ar, الرئيس, alrrayiys) is a

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

created by Ma'an Network and

Search for Common Ground Searching or search may refer to: Computing technology * Search algorithm, including keyword search ** :Search algorithms * Search and optimization for problem solving in artificial intelligence * Search engine technology, software for findi ...

, and was originally aired in 2013 in the

Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...

. The show, a cross between

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

and

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

, tasks viewers and a panel of expert judges with selecting the show candidate that they hope to see become the next Palestinian President. The program was designed to promote democratic values and procedures to a Palestinian audience and engage citizens in democratic processes. The President was funded by a two-year grant from the

Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( nl, link=no, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken; BZ) is the Ministries of the Netherlands, Netherlands' ministry responsible for foreign relations of the Netherlands, foreign relations, foreign policy, internation ...

Season 1

In the first season, 1,200 candidates ages 25–35 from the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, Gaza, and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

auditioned to compete in an elimination-style series of trials designed to test their political skills, including acting as a Palestinian ambassador in a foreign country, managing a large Palestinian corporation for a day, answering hard-hitting questions on live TV on various political, social, and economic issues affecting Palestinians, exhibiting sufficient self-discipline to be "on-call" and "on-message" 24/7 while on the campaign trail, and keeping their cool in an intense, televised political debate. Throughout broadcasting, candidates were evaluated by a panel of celebrity judges, including Dr. Hanan Ashrawi,

Ahmad Tibi Ahmad Tibi ( ar, أحمد الطيبي, , he, אַחְמָד טִיבִּי, , sometimes spelled Ahmed Tibi; born 19 December 1958) is a Palestinian-Israeli politician. The leader of the Ta'al party, he has served as a member of the Knesset si ...

, and Ammar A. Aker, CEO of

Paltel Palestine Telecommunications (Paltel) Company ( ar, الاتصالات الفلسطينية شركة), listed in the Palestine Exchange (PEX) as PALTEL, is the largest employer (after the government) in Palestine, employing almost 3,000 people. ...

. Audience members voted via SMS at the end of each episode, eliminating the least popular candidate. In the finale, the two final contestants participated in a live TV debate to decide the winner. Hussein Al-Deek from

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

was declared the winner of the first season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:President, The 2010s reality television series Palestinian television shows