Gaza, January 21, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Several Palestinian political leaders in the Gaza Strip called on Wednesday for holding the general presidential and legislative elections in all the Palestinian territories on time. However, most also said that a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah must come first.

The politicians agreed during a political workshop held in Gaza City that postponing the elections "is very dangerous to the Palestinians," since it deprives the people of their democratic right to choose their leaders.

According to Palestinian basic law, the general elections are to be held on Jan. 25. However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to postpone voting until June,  after Hamas threatened to thwart polling in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas movement, which took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, insists on delaying the elections until it reaches a reconciliation agreement with the Abbas's Fatah party.

Postponing the general Palestinian elections until June 2010 is in accordance with the Egyptian-drafted reconciliation agreement presented to all Palestinian factions last October. Shortly after, the Palestinian Central Council, the legal body of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), decided to extend the term of both President Abbas and the Hamas-dominated Parliament until June 2010.

Abbas has accepted the proposed reconciliation agreement on behalf of Fatah, but Hamas has not. Still, Hamas spokesmen say they are in favor of holding the elections as soon as a reconciliation is reached.

Gaza-based Fatah lawmaker Faisal Abu Shahla reminded participants in the workshop that  "according to the law, after Jan. 25, all of us (officials currently in office) will be illegal...Yet with the current political rift and internal campaigns of propaganda (between Fatah and Hamas), we live in a status of no talks, no armed resistance and no internal unity." He added that "the Israeli occupation is the only one which benefits from the current situation."

Meanwhile, Ahmed Yousef, an aide to the Hamas-backed prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, agreed that postponing the general elections is dangerous to the Palestinian cause. However, Yousef defended his movement's insistence that a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah must come first, adding that Egypt and other mediators must take into consideration Hamas's concerns about the proposed reconciliation pact. He called on the international and Arab communities to play a more effective role to end the internal feuding.

Jamil Majdalawi, the Gaza-based leader of the left-wing Popular front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), said during the workshop that, "The continuation of the current rift is not only affecting the Palestinian political life; it is also weakening the armed resistance against the Israeli occupation." He added that "If the peace talks with Israel are resumed amid the current internal rift, it will weaken the Palestinian negotiators."

Source: Xinhua