PLC leader Says Palestinian Elections Not to be Held on Time

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 11, 2002

PLC leader Says Palestinian Elections Not to be Held on Time

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The Palestinian presidential and legislative elections, previously scheduled for January 20, are impossible to be held on time, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) said in Paris Tuesday.

"We are engaged to the decree (signed by President of the Palestinian Authorities Yasser Arafat), which has indicated that the elections should be held on January 20 ... But practically speaking, I cannot see how it could be possible to hold the elections," said Qurei.

"It is December now and it remains one month before January 20.Unfortunately, it is not a period that allows us to take the measures for democratic elections," he said.

The Palestinian parliamentary leader is on a private visit in Paris. He made the remarks at a press conference following his meeting with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.

"We can not do it under the shadow of Israeli tanks, thereforeI think it would be difficult to organize elections," he said.

During the meeting, de Villepin and he talked about "the measures that the Israelis have taken on the ground, the way to get out of the trap that Israel imposes on the Palestinian people and the method by which those who defend the peace could help resume political talks," Qurei added.

"In our French friends, we feel the willingness to help, to support, to return to the political way of peace," he said.

"The French are very demanding about the draft peace plan proposed by the Quartet, " he said.

A draft by the Quartet -- the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia -- suggests the proclamationof a Palestinian State before 2005 and France insists that the date cannot be put off as certain countries demanded, he said.

"We agree that the coming weeks would be dangerous and sensible with the elections in Israel," said the Palestinian official who headed the Palestinian delegation during the 1993 peace talks with Israel in Oslo, Norway.

"That is why we wish to adopt a draft plan with clear methods ... and a clearly defined map of the Palestinian State," he said.

Qurei is slated to meet with French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday. He will also meet Jean-Louis Debre and Christian Poncelet, Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate, two houses of the French parliament.

On December 20, the Quartet will hold a ministerial meeting inWashington to discuss the plan that envisions the establishment ofa Palestinian State no later than 2005.

Israel said earlier that it's not ready to discuss such a plan because of the elections that will last till the end of January.

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