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Jerusalem
13 November 2009
Palestinian elections, originally set for early next year, will not
take place on schedule.
The elections were postponed because of divisions
between rival Palestinian factions: the Fatah movement that controls
the West Bank and the Islamic militant group Hamas that rules the Gaza
Strip.
Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of
Fatah had ordered the Central Election Commission to conduct national
elections on schedule in January. But commission chairman Hanna Nasser
blamed Hamas for refusing to cooperate and forcing the postponement.
"We
have found there are obstacles in certain areas. We have made contacts
with Hamas in Gaza, [but] we have found that this is not a
possibility," he said.
Nasser said Hamas would not allow the elections to take place in Gaza.
"And
therefore, since elections are expected to be executed in all parts of
the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem, we have therefore taken a decision
that the CEC cannot at present execute the decree of the President," he
said.
Hamas ousted President Abbas and his Fatah forces from
Gaza during the Palestinian civil war two years ago and does not
recognize his rule in the West Bank. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri
says the call for elections was illegitimate.
Abu Zuhri said postponing the elections was the right decision because there is not a positive atmosphere for the vote.
President
Abbas had threatened not to run in the elections because of the
deadlocked peace process with Israel, but now it appears that he will
remain in office. That is a relief to Israel, the West and Arab states
which see Mr. Abbas as a moderate alternative to Hamas.
But
the deep internal divisions among the Palestinians pose a major
obstacle to U.S.-sponsored efforts to achieve a peace agreement. Israel
and the international community shun Hamas because it refuses to
renounce violence and recognize the Jewish state. Israeli, western and
Arab leaders admit that until the Palestinian factions reconcile, it
will be impossible to achieve the stated goal of the peace process-a
viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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