CAIRO: The Palestinian national dialogue sessions began with the participation of all factions on Tuesday in Cairo.
A few days ago, Egypt sent calls to the Palestinian factions to complete the national dialogue on March 16 and 17 before the candidacy process began for legislative council elections. This process starts in five days and focuses on rebuilding and restructuring the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
The factions that arrived in Cairo, using the Rafah land crossing, confirmed they would discuss the foundations and mechanisms through which the formation of the new Palestinian National Council would be completed, and that any obstacles that may still exist before the elections would be removed.
“Activating, developing and rebuilding the Palestine Liberation Organization has been a national demand for 16 years,” Khalil Al-Hayya, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, said. “We hope that we have reached this important milestone to restore respect to the Palestinian cause and stand together in front of the challenges.”
Factions also confirmed that the dialogue would discuss Palestinian National Council elections, integrating the rest of the factions within the PLO framework, and discussing in detail the criteria for forming the council, whether it would be by consensus or by conducting direct elections, and the final number of its members.
The meeting will also discuss the development and activation of the PLO so that all factions can enter into the principle of political partnership.
Jamil Mezher, a member of the political bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said: “The importance of this round is the agreement to reconfigure the Palestinian National Council, and then the Central Council and the Executive Committee, and discuss the separation of authority from the organization as the organization is the political reference.”
An agreement was signed on Feb. 9 between the Palestinian factions, sponsored by Egypt, to hold legislative, presidential and national elections for the first time in nearly 15 years.
It was also agreed to complete the dialogue sessions and discuss procedures related to elections and the council.
Faction officials said they viewed the Cairo dialogues as very important.
Mohammad Al-Hindi, a member of the political bureau of Islamic Jihad, said his movement had a proposal aimed at building a new national council through an election.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh expressed hope that the factions would be able to add the final touches to the national consensus to hold the elections.
He thanked Egypt’s efforts in hosting the sessions and for its contribution to facilitating the holding of elections.
Hisham Kahil, executive director of the Central Election Commission, confirmed that the committee would participate in the next round of dialogue because the most prominent topic it would discuss was securing the elections.
