Abbas Postpones Palestinian Legislative Elections In May

The president alleges lack of permission from Israel, but part of the opposition considers it an excuse.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced today the postponement of the Palestinian legislative elections on May 22 due to the lack of permission from Israel to hold them in occupied East Jerusalem, he announced in a meeting with political factions.

“We decided to postpone the legislative elections,” Abbas said when communicating the decision until an unspecified date, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The president also assured that he will work “to form a government of national unity” with other factions “that adhere to international resolutions.” In turn, he called “on the international community to pressure Israel to stop its aggressive practices.”

Palestinian factions such as the Islamist Hamas on Monday opposed delaying the first elections called in 15 years, the suspension of which is seen as an excuse for Abbas for the divisions of his nationalist Fatah, which ran on three separate lists.

“The postponement of the legislative elections contradicts the national consensus,” said a Hamas spokesman, who dismissed the decision as a “coup against what was agreed in Cairo”, referring to previous factional meetings held in the Egyptian capital. where they had agreed to hold elections respecting the initial schedule.

Tonight, Abbas again claimed “the right” to East Jerusalem “as the eternal capital” of a future Palestinian state, and criticized the Israeli Government for not authorizing the vote in its eastern part, under Israeli occupation and annexation , which it imposes there. its civil laws and does not allow activities of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

Of the 350,000 Palestinians residing in Jerusalem, more than 150,000 have the right to vote, and they could do so in areas of the city located on the other side of the Israeli separation wall, seamlessly connected to the West Bank. However, more than 6,000 must do so at post officesof the city that Israel must previously authorize, according to the Oslo Accords (1993-95).

This was done in the last parliamentary elections in 2006 and presidential elections in 2005, but this time the Israelis have not given their approval for it.