RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct 23, (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday called presidential and legislative elections for January 24 in the Palestinian territories including the Gaza Strip, in a move seen as pressuring Hamas into signing a unity deal.
The Islamist rulers of the battered coastal enclave issued a swift rejection of the move, branding it illegal and unconstitutional. Abbas issued a decree inviting “the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to take part in free and direct presidential and legislative elections on Sunday January 24, 2010,” his office said.
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| Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) attends a meeting with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank city of Ramallah October 23, 2009, in this picture released by the Palestinian Press Office (PPO). |
In the decree he instructed the election committee to prepare for the vote.
Abbas, whose presidential term expired in early 2009, had said on Tuesday he would issue a decree calling the elections, in a move apparently meant to press Hamas into signing a much-delayed unity deal with his Fatah faction.
In the last parliamentary elections in January 2006, Hamas won an upset victory over the previously dominant Fatah.
Egypt has been struggling to broker a reconciliation agreement between the two main rival Palestinian factions for months, and this month proposed an agreement that would see new elections held in June next year.
Fatah has signed the agreement but Hamas has repeatedly postponed its official response, saying it needs more time to study the deal.
Hamas rejects call
GAZA CITY, Oct 23, 2009 (AFP) - Hamas on Friday branded as “illegal and unconstitutional” a decree by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas calling elections across the Palestinian territories for January 24, a spokesman said. |
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