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Abbas to delay parliamentary elections
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-04 16:40
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has decided to delay upcoming parliamentary
elections by several months, officials and media said Saturday, a move that
would give him additional time to fend off a challenge by the Islamic group
Hamas.
The official Al Ayyam newspaper reported on its front page that Abbas would
announce the delay later in the day.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks to
reporters after his arrival in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 3,
2005. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas will meet in Jerusalem on June 21, Sharon's office said, the
first such summit in the city at the heart of the Middle East conflict.
[Reuters] | Currently the elections are scheduled for July 1. A senior official, who
declined to be identified, said the date would probably be pushed back to
November.
The delay would enable Abbas to take steps to strengthen the ruling Fatah
party against Hamas. The Islamic group has emerged as a formidable rival in
local Palestinian elections in recent months, indicating a strong performance in
the national vote.
Abbas has also been squabbling with legislators over a proposed election law.
Abbas wants all candidates to compete at a "national" level, while some Fatah
legislators want at least half of the lawmakers to be chosen in districts.
There was no immediate reaction from Hamas.
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