WEST BANK: Abbas plans to decree new Palestinian election

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday (July 18) he will order early parliamentary and presidential elections in response to what he called last month's "coup" by Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip. "We call upon the Central Council to issue decrees in relation to early parliamentary and presidential elections. Everyone here agrees that (these upcoming elections) will be held on the basis of proportional representation and on lists. So we will call for this as well and we will not wait too long so that those who are based there (Hamas leadership in Gaza and Syria) are satisfied," Abbas told a key forum of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). But Hamas, which won a parliamentary majority last year and routed Abbas's secular, Western-backed Fatah faction in fighting in Gaza a month ago, said that it still runs the legitimate Palestinian government and that there could be no elections if Abbas refuses to negotiate a new national consensus. Abbas, using uncharacteristically harsh language, said there could be no dialogue with those who staged the "coup" in Gaza unless Hamas first agreed to help organise elections. He first raised the possibility of going to the people last month. "In the beginning, they (Hamas) tried to deny that they have started (the Gaza violence). Then they said, we were forced to do that. So they do know. All the evidences indicate that they were destroying the Mecca (agreement) and they only wanted to reach to this end and they have reached to it (forcefully controlling Gaza). I think that they have dug their grave with with own nails," Abbas said. His move came on the eve of a meeting in Lisbon of the Quartet of international powers mediating in the Palestinians' conflict with Israel, their first since the Gaza violence. The Quartet, which comprises U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the U.N. secretary general and EU and Russian officials, has rallied behind Abbas but it is unclear just how it plans to deal with Hamas and the Palestinian schism. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the early elections would be unconstitutional. "The president's call for early elections is unacceptable, unconstitutional and illegal. It will remain only as ink on paper, and neither Abbas nor all the papers (that) and international powers who support him will be able to hold any election as long as Hamas rejects it." But several residents of Gaza City supported Abbas's move, saying its for the benefit of the Palestinian people. "The decisions of our brother Mahmoud Abbas are legal regarding the Palestinian people and we are with his decisions no matter what because in general he will make decisions that serve the well-being of the Palestinian people," said a resident of Gaza after watching Abbas's speech on television. "As a Palestinian resident I think the president for his honest speech and with him with all the decisions that he takes regarding the better interest of the Palestinian people," added another. Leading constitutional lawyers have questioned Abbas's appointment of a new government under Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, noting it has not been approved by parliament. But Abbas defended the legitimacy of his actions. Fatah leaders argue that the PLO Council is a superior body to parliament and can take binding decisions. The Council is expected to endorse Abbas's call for new elections on Thursday. Hamas leaders say that as long as they are not part of the PLO, the Council has no right to act in that way.

ITN Source | July 19, 2007

Tags:. .deny. .regarding. .language. .illegal. .agreement