Palestinian resistance factions: Elections must not be held unilaterally

[ 08/02/2011 – 08:13 PM ]

 

GAZA, (PIC)– Palestinian factions in Gaza said Tuesday that no Palestinian faction is entitled to unilateral decisions to hold national elections to serve special interests.

Related statements came after the de facto Palestinian government in Ramallah has decided to hold municipal elections this July in the West Bank and not in the Gaza Strip.

”Though we emphasize our commitment to the principle of elections, we reject Fatah’s control of the decision because it is a national issue and should be done under national consensus,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in statements to the PIC.

No faction should control this decision to serve special interests, he said, adding that the necessary atmosphere for elections is not available in light of the ‘liquidation’ of the resistance movement and security persecution of thousands of Hamas’s men in the West Bank.

The Ramallah authority had previously announced elections but then reneged after it surfaced that conditions were not suitable.

”We believe elections were brought up at this time to cover up documents Al-Jazeera revealed exposing the Fatah authority and its leaders,” Abu Zuhri said, adding that the move was an attempt to escape the resentment faced by the PA on the Palestinian street

The elections will have no value unless they are held under national consensus, he went on to say. ”The elections and what may result from them are not binding to our people.”

Hamas has announced that there are no elections without Gaza and an end to Palestinian division.

The resistance movement accused the PA of ignoring dialogues to create understandings around the Egyptian papers for Palestinian reconciliation, which state that elections would be timed to coincide in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in all local councils, the Palestinian Legislative Council, the presidency and the Palestinian National Council.

The Islamic Jihad Movement, another major resistance faction in Gaza, said the step would worsen the present crisis if done outside of national consent.

Elections would not offer a way out of the current crisis, the movement said, especially during bitter times of failure to reach an agreement between divided sides.

Palestinian resistance factions: Elections must not be held unilaterally.

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