The Hamas-led Palestinian government on Sunday voiced opposition to a referendum proposed by President Mahmoud Abbas.

"The referendum will complicate the situation. I do not think we need more crises since we have many political, security and financial crises," cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad told the Voice of Palestine.

Hamad said that the gap between Hamas and the Palestinian presidency has been widening.

Abbas' ultimatum for referendum over a document drawn up by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will expire on Monday.

"I think it is possible to overstep referendum since the chance of success of national dialogues is high," said Hamad, adding that such a referendum will bring all sides into a big problem.

Meanwhile, the Fatah movement, led by Abbas, on Sunday slammed Hamas for refusing referendum.

"Hamas will make the situation more complicated, if it keeps challenging and refusing national consensus and international legitimacy," Fatah spokesman Ahmed Abdel Rahman told the Voice of Palestine.

The document suggests that an independent Palestinian state be establish on the 1967 borders through negotiations and resistance.

Hamas strongly opposes some articles of the document which call for adopting UN resolutions as solutions to some outstanding issues, including those about Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem.

Source: Xinhua