Prime Minister Salam
Fayyad suggested holding general elections in West Bank and Gaza Strip "as
soon as possible to reunify the two parts of homeland and its
institutions."
Fayyad added in an
interview with the Palestinian television that "the date of holding local
and general elections will be fixed this year."
He added that the
Palestinians are on the verge of creating their independent state. Fayyad
stressed, "The creation of the state requires the reunification of West
Bank and Gaza Strip and the institution of Palestinian people."
On Oct. 24, 2009,
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree calling on the Palestinians
to head to the ballots on Jan. 25, 2010. However, the Central Elections
Committee (CEC) informed Abbas later that it is impossible to hold the
elections on time after Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip refused to let its teams
work freely.
Hamas, which sized control
over Gaza in 2007, said it will not allow holding the elections in the coastal
enclave until a reconciliation agreement is reached.
For his part, member of
Fatah Central Committee Azzam Al-Ahmad also suggested holding presidential and
parliamentary elections to overcome the split.
Al-Ahmed urged
representatives of the Palestinian factions to agree to hold elections
"because we cannot remain hostages of Hamas movement and its relations
with regional and international powers."
He added that it is still
early to talk about dates for the elections. "But the Palestinians are
capable of finding out ways to overcome the split," the Fatah official
said.
Representatives of the two
parties met in the Syrian capital of Damascus on mid-November in yet another
attempt to solve the crisis, but failed to reach agreement over the main
sticking point: Security.
In late September, the two
movements reached a paper of "understandings" in a meeting held in
Damascus related to the restructure of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
and general elections.
Hamas officials had
earlier announced that they were looking for forming a highest security
committee to be in charge of reforming the security forces of the PA.
However, Abbas had
announced earlier that the issue of security can never be shared between Hamas
and Fatah, and it must be independent and has one leadership.
In October 2009, Egypt
presented a draft of reconciliation to the Palestinian factions, mainly rivals
Fatah and Hamas. Fatah accepted the reconciliation draft while Hamas refused to
sign and said it had some reservations that should be reconsidered.
Egypt, which hosted five
rounds of Palestinian national dialogue, rejected Hamas demands and said that
signing on the pact should be first, and observations, reservations and notes
would be added after the signing in a special appendix. Since then, the ties
between the Cairo and Hamas deteriorated.