Palestinians to set new date for vote

21 Nov 2009, 7:07 am   -   Source: AAP
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Palestinian officials say a new date for parliamentary and presidential elections will be set next month.

Palestinian officials say a new date for parliamentary and presidential elections will be set next month now that President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to postpone the January vote, though the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers maintain they will boycott the voting.

The elections were supposed to be a central component of an Egyptian-mediated effort to reconcile Abbas and his rivals in the Islamic militant group Hamas. Months of talks, however, have failed to produce a deal, and Abbas had decided to move ahead with elections anyway, angering Hamas.

The militant group has controlled the Gaza Strip since seizing power from forces loyal to Abbas in June 2007, leaving the president at the head of a Western-backed government that controls only the West Bank.

The Palestinian Election Commission said last week the January 24 voting should be put off as Hamas's opposition made it impossible for voting to take place in Gaza.

Abbas told BBC Arabic on Thursday he had agreed to that recommendation.

He said he still hoped to reconcile with Hamas so voting can go forward in Gaza, as well as the West Bank and Arab areas of Jerusalem.

The Election Commission said on Friday it would meet in December to set a new date.

Adding to uncertainty surrounding the voting, Abbas told the BBC he was standing by his decision not to seek another term as president. He announced at the beginning of the month he planned to leave politics because he was frustrated over the 10-month stalemate in Israel-Palestinian peace efforts.

His departure would throw peace efforts into turmoil, particularly if a Hamas candidate were to be elected president. Both Israel and the United States consider the group a terrorist organisation and refuse to have any dealings with its politicians.

"The decision not to run myself for elections is a final decision," Abbas said. "The issue doesn't depend on changing the circumstances that led me not to run for the upcoming elections, even if the circumstances changed or altered completely. As for me, I took my decision, I'm not running."

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