RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission will launch an electronic registration process in February to update the annual register of voters, though there is no hope of holding presidential and legislative elections any time soon in Palestine.

On Jan. 8, Mousa Abu Marzouk, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, announced the “movement’s willingness to go through the presidential and legislative elections and the elections of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s National Council as soon as possible,” placing the ball in President Mahmoud Abbas’ court. It's an approach to show that Hamas is not the one disrupting the elections and that Abbas should first issue a presidential decree to hold the elections.

After the national consensus government formed under the Beach Refugee Camp Agreement was sworn in before the president in Ramallah on June 2, 2014, Abbas instructed the Central Elections Commission to begin preparation for the presidential and legislative elections six months later on Dec. 2. However, several obstacles prevented the government from making the preparations.

Azzam al-Ahmad, Fatah leader and official in charge of the reconciliation talks with Hamas, told Al-Monitor, “No date was specified for the elections and there is no need to talk about it now. When Hamas shows its commitment to the reconciliation agreements, only then will we discuss everything else. We can only talk about elections after Hamas allows the national consensus government to exercise its authority in the Gaza Strip, which the movement controls.”