Palestinian Presidential Spokesman: No Backtracking on Decision to Hold Elections

Ramallah, MINA – There would be no backtracking on the decision to hold the general elections, Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh stated on Monday.

Speaking to Voice of Palestine, Abu Rudeineh announced that the decision to hold the general elections would not be reversed because elections are a “democratic and a popular requirement” while affirming that they would be held based on clear and proper rules.

He added that the Fatah movement is determined to run on one unified electoral list in the first full presidential and parliamentary elections in 15 years.

Highlighting the Palestinian leadership’s stance on the resumption of the peace process, he reiterated President Mahmoud Abbas’ vision for convening an international conference for Middle East peace with full powers and with the participation of all concerned parties, based on international law and the UN resolutions.

He also reiterated firm rejection to Israeli colonial settlement construction/ expansion plans.

“Israel knows that real peace requires the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and entails dismantling all colonial settlements within the borders of the Palestinian state pursuant to the international resolutions, particularly the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334,” he added.

Abu Rudeineh also touched upon the recent Kosovo’s inauguration of an embassy to Israel in Jerusalem, slamming the move as “in violation of international law, which provide that Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Palestine” and reiterating absolute rejection of any plan in this respect. (T/R7/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)