Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that efforts were underway to hold general elections, the nation's first in over a dozen of years, in the upcoming few months
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2019) Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that efforts were underway to hold general elections, the nation's first in over a dozen of years, in the upcoming few months."We all also continue our efforts to unify our land and people through the elections we called for and that we have been working to organize in the upcoming few months so as to achieve one authority, one law and one legitimate force," Abbas said in a letter to the UN Committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
Through presidential and parliamentary elections Palestinians hope to heal the national rift and unify the West Bank, controlled by Abbas's Fatah movement and the Gaza Strip, ruled by Hamas Islamic opposition since 2007.
Abbas pledged to convene elections, speaking at the 74th UN General Assembly in September. The date has not been set yet. In an interview to Russian media published earlier this week he said that the election would be held as soon as Hamas gives its consent and confirmed ongoing discussions with it on the matter.
