Hamas to ban elections in Gaza
| DATE: 2009-10-29 | PRINT | SHARE
The move raised doubts over whether the vote decreed by the Western-backed president would take place in January and threatened to further deepen the bitter rift between his secular Fatah party and its Islamist rivals.
"The government will not allow the holding of elections in the Gaza Strip without a national agreement," Hamas-run government spokesman Taher al-Nunu told AFP.
"Such elections would reinforce the division and create a political separation, and that is something we will not allow."
He added that Hamas would not permit the Central Election Commission to operate in Gaza or allow any steps to be taken to prepare for the vote.
The Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza City had earlier said it "will hold accountable anyone involved in the elections," which it said "were announced by someone who has no right to make such an announcement."
Last week, Abbas called for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held on January 24 after Hamas declined to sign on to an Egypt-brokered reconciliation agreement inked by Fatah.
Abbas issued a decree ordering elections in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, in a move seen by some as turning up the heat on the Islamist group to sign the deal.
Hamas -- which trounced Fatah in the last parliamentary elections in January 2006 -- rejected the decree as an "illegal and unconstitutional step."
Abbas was elected on January 9, 2005 for a four-year term. The Palestinian Authority extended his presidency by one year so presidential and parliamentary elections could be held on the same date, as required by Palestinian Basic Law.
Hamas has consistently rejected the extension granted to Abbas, and no longer considers him to be the legitimate president of the Palestinian people.
On Saturday, Hamas parliamentary speaker Ahmed Bahar said Abbas should be put on trial "for usurping power."
Abbas has said he is determined to proceed with organising the polls and denied the move was a tactic to force Hamas to sign the unity agreement.
The Central Election Commission has begun work on implementing the decree, and on Wednesday senior Palestinian official Salih Rafat said Abbas hoped to persuade Hamas to participate.
"The leadership is now making calls to all the Arab countries to assume their role with Hamas to facilitate the holding of these elections," Rafat told AFP in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah.
The Egyptian proposal made earlier this year would see new elections in June 2010. Fatah has signed the accord but Hamas said it could not sign the document because it differed from previous understandings.
Abbas has said he remains determined to try to reconcile with Hamas, and has left open the possibility of holding elections in June if Hamas signs the Egyptian agreement.
A poll earlier this month showed 40 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza would vote for Fatah compared with just 18.7 percent for Hamas.
Hamas-Fatah tensions date back to the start of limited Palestinian self-rule in the mid-1990s when Fatah strongmen cracked down on Islamist activists.
Simmering divisions boiled over in June 2007 when Hamas fighters expelled Abbas loyalists from Gaza in a week of bloody clashes, seizing the impoverished and densely populated territory that is home to 1.5 million people.
| DATE: 2009-10-29 | PRINT | SHARE
GAZA CITY, Oct 28, 2009 (AFP) - The Islamist movement Hamas said on Wednesday it will ban the organisation of elections in its Gaza stronghold after president Mahmud Abbas called for a vote in the Palestinian territories.
The move raised doubts over whether the vote decreed by the Western-backed president would take place in January and threatened to further deepen the bitter rift between his secular Fatah party and its Islamist rivals.
"The government will not allow the holding of elections in the Gaza Strip without a national agreement," Hamas-run government spokesman Taher al-Nunu told AFP.
"Such elections would reinforce the division and create a political separation, and that is something we will not allow."
He added that Hamas would not permit the Central Election Commission to operate in Gaza or allow any steps to be taken to prepare for the vote.
The Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza City had earlier said it "will hold accountable anyone involved in the elections," which it said "were announced by someone who has no right to make such an announcement."
Last week, Abbas called for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held on January 24 after Hamas declined to sign on to an Egypt-brokered reconciliation agreement inked by Fatah.
Abbas issued a decree ordering elections in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, in a move seen by some as turning up the heat on the Islamist group to sign the deal.
Hamas -- which trounced Fatah in the last parliamentary elections in January 2006 -- rejected the decree as an "illegal and unconstitutional step."
Abbas was elected on January 9, 2005 for a four-year term. The Palestinian Authority extended his presidency by one year so presidential and parliamentary elections could be held on the same date, as required by Palestinian Basic Law.
Hamas has consistently rejected the extension granted to Abbas, and no longer considers him to be the legitimate president of the Palestinian people.
On Saturday, Hamas parliamentary speaker Ahmed Bahar said Abbas should be put on trial "for usurping power."
Abbas has said he is determined to proceed with organising the polls and denied the move was a tactic to force Hamas to sign the unity agreement.
The Central Election Commission has begun work on implementing the decree, and on Wednesday senior Palestinian official Salih Rafat said Abbas hoped to persuade Hamas to participate.
"The leadership is now making calls to all the Arab countries to assume their role with Hamas to facilitate the holding of these elections," Rafat told AFP in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah.
The Egyptian proposal made earlier this year would see new elections in June 2010. Fatah has signed the accord but Hamas said it could not sign the document because it differed from previous understandings.
Abbas has said he remains determined to try to reconcile with Hamas, and has left open the possibility of holding elections in June if Hamas signs the Egyptian agreement.
A poll earlier this month showed 40 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza would vote for Fatah compared with just 18.7 percent for Hamas.
Hamas-Fatah tensions date back to the start of limited Palestinian self-rule in the mid-1990s when Fatah strongmen cracked down on Islamist activists.
Simmering divisions boiled over in June 2007 when Hamas fighters expelled Abbas loyalists from Gaza in a week of bloody clashes, seizing the impoverished and densely populated territory that is home to 1.5 million people.
