Abbas rallies election support, with or without Hamas
The Arab League has announced its backing for Palestinian legislative elections, as Hamas and Fatah remain divided over them.
Fatah, Hamas and most, if not all, of the Arab world believe elections are due in the Palestinian territories. They just can't agree on when they should be held.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, of Fatah, recently instructed the Central Election Commission to begin preparing to hold parliamentary elections — sometime — supposedly to be followed in a few months by presidential elections. Hamas opposes Abbas' decision to separate the elections.
"We do not want fragmented and selective elections," Mushir al-Masri, a senior Hamas official, said in a press statement Oct. 10. "We want to hold simultaneous presidential and legislative elections on the same day."
Some critics question whether Abbas will ever allow another presidential election. At 83, he wants to remain in office.
