Abbas Delays Legislative Polls, Hamas Critical

By Samer Khuwayera, IOL Correspondents

RAMALLAH, West Bank, June 4, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – In a rather widely-expected move, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas postponed on Saturday, June 4, legislative elections, drawing immediate rebuke from Hamas which was projected to sweep the vote.

In a public decree, the Palestinian leader said he had decided to delay the poll, originally set for July 17, to allow time to resolve a dispute over proposed reforms to the voting law.

"A new date will be set by decree following consultations with the different Palestinian movements and the adoption of a new election law by the Palestinian legislative council," said an official statement from the Palestinian Authority.

The date of July 17 had been set by parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh, who assumed the presidency following the death of President Yasser Arafat until the election of Abbas.

The parliamentary vote would be the first contested by Hamas and could signal an end of Fatah's five-decade of political domination.

Hamas entered electoral politics for the first time at the end of last year, securing a landslide victory over corruption-tainted Fatah in the first-ever Gaza Strip council elections in January.

Of the 118 seats on 10 councils, its candidates won over 77 seats or 65 percent against nearly 22 seats or 26 percent for Fatah.

Hamas also beat Fatah in four out of five major cities in the second stage of municipal polls last month.

"Unilateral"

Hamas, widely expected to make a strong showing in the legislative polls, slammed the postponement.

"President Abbas has repeatedly talked about holding the elections as scheduled on July 17 and so did several senior PA officials," Mohammad Ghazal, a leading Hamas figure, told IslamOnline.net.

He criticized the PA for not consulting with the different Palestinian factions before taking such a "unilateral" decision.

"The Palestinian people are once again being deprived of their right just to serve domestic and subjective interests."

Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the resistance movement, said the decision "shows that the PA is not serious about its commitments."

He warned, in a statement, that the PA "risks causing chaos" and was bowing to demands from the US and Israel to delay the voting.

Israel has went public with fears of seeing Hamas assuming legislative and municipal powers, through elections, in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Hamas had reacted to earlier hints of a delay by accusing the ruling Fatah movement of maneuvering to cling to power.

The postponement comes amid strains between Fatah and Hamas that have already resulted in the postponement of partial run-offs in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas refused to contest the new vote in three Gaza Strip municipalities, ordered after Fatah demanded a recount of May 5 local elections.

The resistance group won by a small majority in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, Beit Lahia to the north and the central Al-Bureij refugee camp.

Two court rulings cancelled the vote results in these areas, which prompted Hamas to charge that the verdict was “politically-motivated under a judicial cloak.”

It cited counts by international monitors, who did not report irregularities on election day.