A Hamas legal advisor on Monday called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to decree the registration of eligible people to vote in presidential elections as Abbas' term will end in January.
"We call on President Abbas to issue a decree to the Central Elections Committee
to allow the citizens to start reiterating for voting," said Mohammed Abed, advisor to deposed Hamas Premier Ismail Haneya.
But Abbas announced several times that his term would be end when the tenure of Hamas-dominated parliament ends in 2010, depending on a law amendment that has not been ratified.
The issue of the Abbas' term is shoved by power struggle between his Fatah movement and rival Hamas Islamists who won the parliamentary elections in 2006.
"The legal period of three months, which precedes the start of the elections in January, should not pass by without preparing for holding the elections to enable the people electing a successor for him (Abbas)," Abed said.
Rift between Hamas and Fatah widened after the Islamic movement routed pro-Abbas forces and took over the Gaza Strip. Abbas withdrew his movement from a Hamas-led coalition after he lost Gaza last year and appointed a western-backed government based in the West Bank.
Hamas rejected Abbas' decisions, turning the Palestinian territories to two politically-separated entities run by the deposed Hamas government in Gaza and the caretaker government in the West Bank.
Next month, Egypt will host an inter-Palestinian dialogue to achieve inter-Palestinian reconciliation. The issue of Abbas' term and the elections would be left for special committees that will emerge from the dialogue.
Source:Xinhua
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