GAZA, Jun 24 (NNN-WAFA) – A Hamas senior official said yesterday that, the Palestinian Authority’s decision to postpone the Palestinian elections, has hindered the efforts to end the internal Palestinian split.
Saleh Arouri, Hamas’ deputy chief, who is in charge of the reconciliation issue, said in a press statement that, the failure to achieve a breakthrough in the previous rounds of dialogue was a result of postponing the elections.
The decision not to hold the elections “was made without consultations with the partners or the guarantors,” Arouri added.
On Apr 29, Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, announced the postponement of the 2021 Palestinian legislative elections, which had been scheduled for May 22, in the Palestinian territories.
Abbas’ announcement came, after Israel refused to allow the Palestinian elections to be held in East Jerusalem.
Reaffirming that East Jerusalem as “a red line,” Abbas said, the general elections could not be held, if Palestinians in East Jerusalem can’t participate.
The Palestinian leadership insists on holding the general elections in occupied East Jerusalem, just like the two previous legislative elections in 1996 and 2006, and the 2005 presidential elections.
In Jan, Abbas announced that the 2021 general elections would include the legislative elections on May 22, the presidential elections on July 31, and the elections of the Palestinian National Council, the highest decision-making body of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, on Aug 31.
Abbas chaired a meeting for his ruling Fatah party’s revolutionary council on Monday, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, calling on the Palestinian factions to launch a serious dialogue to end the internal split.
The internal Palestinian split began, when Hamas routed the security forces of Abbas and seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. All efforts to end the split have so far failed.
