Report : Abbas to Announces Cancellation of Elections

Ramallah, MINA – Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas will announce the cancellation of elections under the pretext of Israel’s refusal to allow Jerusalemites to cast their votes, various local and Israeli sources reported.

Quoted from MEMO, The Israeli Army Radio reported that the PA had informed representatives of the international community, Jordan and Egypt about the decision.

It was also reported that the Palestinian leadership will meet in Ramallah on Thursday.

According to PA officials, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been invited to attend the meeting.

Abbas and several Fatah officials have previously repeatedly insisted that there would be no elections without the participation of Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem. The latest was conveyed on Monday when addressing the Fatah Central Committee.

However, the Al-Quds newspaper reported from an unnamed informational source, saying the PA had decided to cancel the election “under heavy American and Arab pressure. Washington and regional states appear to “believe that the election result will not be in Fatah’s favor.”

The same source added that the US had informed the PA that it would introduce several steps before the election, including resuming aid to UNRWA, rehabilitating the Palestinian health care system, reopening the US Consulate in occupied Jerusalem and reopening the PLO office in Washington.

“The US government believes that these steps will help moderate Palestinian people get a better outcome of the elections,” he claims.

Critics say this is a sweetener to encourage Abbas to cancel the election.

Israeli sources reported by the Safa news agency said Abbas had commissioned a senior member of the Fatah Central Committee, Hussein Al-Sheikh, to persuade Qatar to seek Hamas approval of the cancellation of the election under the pretext of “inappropriate” conditions in the region. (T/R7

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)