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Abbas: Palestinian elections on schedule
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-10 09:01
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that he would hold parliamentary
elections on Jan. 25 as scheduled after he received U.S. assurances that Arab
residents of east Jerusalem will be allowed to vote in the city.
Abbas' announcement alleviated some fears that he was planning to call off
the vote under pressure from members of his Fatah party concerned that the
popular Hamas militant group would embarrass Fatah at the polls.
Abbas said Monday that the ongoing chaos in Gaza — much of it caused by
Fatah-affliated militants — is aimed at scuttling the elections, and he told his
security forces to protect that "democratic day even with force."
However, Abbas' interior minister, Nasser Yousef, warned that he will not be
able to secure polling stations from gunmen trying to disrupt the election.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, also known
as Abu Mazen, gestures as he talks during a press conferance in Gaza city,
Monday Jan. 9, 2006.[AP] | Abbas had previously
said he would cancel the vote if Israel followed through on its threats to
prevent Palestinians in east Jerusalem from voting. Israel is leery of letting
Palestinians vote in Jerusalem, seeing it as a threat to its claim to the city,
which both sides say is their capital.
During the 1996 Palestinian parliament election, and again a year ago when
Abbas was elected to succeed the late Yasser Arafat, the two sides agreed that
Palestinian residents could cast absentee ballots at Jerusalem post offices. But
Israel had threatened to cancel that compromise this year because of the
participation of Hamas, which calls for the destruction of Israel and is
responsible for scores of deadly attacks against Israelis in recent years.
In an address carried live on Palestine TV, Abbas said he spoke to several
U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who gave him
assurances that Israel would allow voting in Jerusalem. Abbas said he also
received a message Monday from President Bush.
"The elections will proceed and God willing take place on time," Abbas said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas listens to
question during a news conference at his office in Gaza January 9,
2006.[Reuters] | Israel said Monday that it was reversing its ban on letting Palestinian
politicians campaign in Jerusalem — though Hamas would still be barred — but
Israeli officials said they had not reached agreement yet on allowing voting in
the city.
"We want to reach an agreement under which Palestinians living in Jerusalem
who want to vote in the elections can, and at the same time ensure that we don't
give legitimacy to any terrorist group," said Mark Regev, spokesman for the
Israeli Foreign Ministry.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said two U.S. envoys would travel
to the region Tuesday to smooth out arrangements for the elections and other
security issues.
With the campaigning ban lifted, candidates distributed leaflets Monday and
put up posters in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.
"We are determined to break any Israeli attempt to hold back this national
right," said Qais Abu Leila, a candidate from Jerusalem.
Ahmed Atoun, a Hamas candidate in Jerusalem, said Israel has no business
interfering. "The Palestinian people want to elect their representatives. Let
the ballot boxes decide," he said
Fatah, which is viewed as riddled with corruption, is facing a serious
challenge from Hamas, which is participating in parliamentary elections for the
first time and has cultivated a corruption-free image.
Abbas is also struggling with increasing chaos in Gaza, where gunmen, mostly
from groups affiliated with Fatah, have stormed government offices, taken
hostages and even smashed through the border wall with Egypt.
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