Azzam al-Ahmad, spokesman of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas-led Fatah movement in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), announced on Sunday evening that Abbas is expected to issue a decree to call for a referendum on Tuesday.

Al-Ahmad told a news conference held in West Bank city of Ramallah that "Abbas is determined to issue a presidential decree on Tuesday to call for holding a popular referendum within the coming forty days."

At the opening session of national dialogue held on May 25, Abbas said that he would order a referendum if the inter- Palestinian dialogue fails to adopt the National Accordance filed by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The prisoners' document calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the territories that were occupied by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

It also calls for forming a national unity government.

If the referendum is held, the Palestinian people will vote on whether they accept the prisoners' National Accordance or not.

Officials from the ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)

have announced that they reject holding such a referendum.

Al-Ahmad expected that there will be early legislative and presidential elections in the Palestinian territories if the result of the referendum is boycotted by Palestinian factions.

"The referendum is a political step that would help ending the siege imposed on the Palestinian people and would help in resuming fund and aid to the Palestinian National Authority," he stressed.

Meanwhile, the Fatah spokesman also severely slammed Prime Minister Ismail Haneya for saying earlier that holding referendum would be illegal and politically.

"I would advice Mr. Haneya to resign together with his cabinet instead of watching it toppling alone," said al-Ahmad.

Source: Xinhua