A member of the Fatah delegation responsible for talks with Hamas told Al Quds Al Arabi on Sunday that his movement has called on Hamas to form a national consensus government with Mahmoud Abbas as its head. The faction is also being asked to set a date for parliamentary and presidential elections.
Amin Maqboul added that Hamas appears to be refusing Fatah’s demand, which means that the reconciliation issue will not move forward.
Commenting on the speech given by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, wherein he called on Fatah to implement the reconciliation agreement, Maqboul stressed that the speech revealed nothing new. He pointed out that Fatah’s leaders made a number of statements in the press in response to that speech.
“Haniyeh’s speech was all about proclamations and it was responded to with proclamations,” Maqboul told Quds Press. He denied that the Fatah leadership is to meet with Abbas to discuss Haniyeh’s speech and come up with an official response.