Saturday 24 October 2009

Hamas and Islamic Jihad reject any unilateral step beyond the national consensus


Hamas and Islamic Jihad reject any unilateral step beyond the national consensus

[ 24/10/2009 - 09:44 AM ]

DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- The Movements of Hamas and Islamic Jihad have stressed their adherence to the Palestinian national reconciliation and their rejection of any unilateral steps taken beyond the national consensus.

This came during a meeting held in Damascus between Khaled Mishaal, the head of Hamas political bureau, and Ramadan Shallah, the secretary-general of Islamic Jihad on Thursday night.

Both sides also discussed the latest political developments in the Palestinian arena and the avenues to strengthen bilateral relations that serve the interest of the Palestinian people and their national cause.

In the same context, Mohamed Nazzal, a member of Hamas political bureau, said Friday that Mahmoud Abbas’s edict to hold presidential and legislative elections next January has no practical value, noting that there is political division between Gaza and the West Bank that does not allow such elections to take place without a national consensus.

Nazzal told Al-Aqsa satellite channel that Hamas would never allow these elections to take place in the Gaza Strip in the absence of national unity.

He stressed that Abbas wants elections according to his mood that does not involve any fair competition and delegitimize Hamas, accusing him of having intentions to carry out widespread electoral fraud.

For its part, the Movement of Hamas said that Abbas is no longer the chief of the Palestinian Authority (PA) after his term in office expired last January, so he has no right to issue any addicts or decisions, affirming that his edict to hold elections is illegitimate.

Hamas stated Friday that it respects the democratic choices and its results, but such elections must be a fruit of the national reconciliation and not a replacement as Abbas wants, noting that this edict was issued in response to Zio-American pressures.

It held Abbas and his aides fully responsible for the consequences of this decision which would deepen the internal division and convert it to a historical rift politically and geographically.

For his part, Dr. Ahmed Bahar, the first deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislative council, said Friday that any elections held without a national consensus would be rejected by the Palestinian people because it would entrench the internal division.

In a ceremony held in Gaza to honor memorizers of the holy Qur’an, Dr. Bahar stressed the importance of the national dialog to restore the unity on the basis of the Palestinian constants and the Palestinian independent decision away from the American interventions and the international quartet’s unjust terms.

Dr. Yousuf Rezqa, the political advisor to the Palestinian premier, also said that Abbas’s edict to hold elections next January is a decision issued by a former PA chief and thus has no constitutional value, affirming that the government would hold a meeting to discuss this decision which buried the Egyptian reconciliation efforts.

The popular resistance committee, for its part, strongly denounced Abbas’s edict, saying that Abbas is not the representative of the Palestinian people after the expiration of his term in office and his decisions, therefore, have no constitutional or legal value.

Abbas’s edict was also deplored by the Hamas change and reform parliamentary bloc which said in a statement issued on Friday that the decision to hold elections next January is illegal and an unconstitutional step aimed to create illusive legitimacy.

In a press statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC), Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that this edict was issued in response to the American demands which call for not conducting any reconciliation with Hamas before it accepts the international quartet’s terms.

Spokesman Abu Zuhri pointed out that the timing of this decision is linked to the phone call which Abbas received Friday afternoon from US president Barack Obama.

In a televised statement to Al-Jazeera satellite channel on Friday, Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy head of Hamas political bureau, said that the elections which Abbas wants to hold next year would not take place in Gaza or anywhere else because there is no Palestinian reconciliation, stressing that his Movement has several options that would be used to respond to Abbas’s unconstitutional edict.

For his part, senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan stated that Abbas, through such a step, confirmed that he only responds to the American pressures as he did with Goldstone’s report and does not care about any reconciliation effort, warning that Abbas’s electoral edict, although he has no right to make such a decision, would inflame the Palestinian arena.

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