The presidential decree issued by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on March 1 has removed yet another obstacle standing in the way of legislative and presidential elections in the occupied Palestinian territories. Yet many other political land mines still exist.
Press reports from Egypt say the presidential decree was only issued after the secretary-general of Fatah's Central Committee, Jibril Rajoub, and the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, Saleh Al-Arouri, met in Cairo on Feb. 28 and agreed on the list of nominated judges.