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Hamas boycotts Abbas-decreed parliament session |
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19:30, July 11, 2007 |
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) suspended a session scheduled on Wednesday after Hamas lawmakers, who represent the majority of the parliament, boycotted the convention.
President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah issued a decree to hold the session almost a month after rival Hamas Islamists seized control of Gaza Strip and captured the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) compounds.
Salah al-Bardaweel, a spokesman for Hamas lawmakers, said calling the PLC to convene "without arrangements with the biggest bloc (Hamas), and with the Israeli arrest of 41 Hamas legislators, was an attack on the Palestinian legitimacy."
The meeting was slated to discuss the emergency government which Abbas formed after sacking the Hamas-led coalition in response to Gaza takeover in June. Hamas insists that the sacked national unity government is the sole legitimate administration.
The PLC used to convene via videoconference between its headquarters in Gaza city and West Bank''s Ramallah. In the Hamas- run territory, Fatah lawmakers were prevented from getting into the PLC office in Gaza by force.
Hamas tries to hinder the PLC session in order to prevent the emergency government from gaining legislative approval and to keep holding the majority of the parliament though the term has ended. The detention of the Hamas lawmakers has weakened the Islamic movement''s chances of secured results when it comes to voting.
Hamas won January 2006 elections but the PLC has rarely held sessions since the capturing of Hamas lawmakers in response to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier in Gaza Strip in June 2006.
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