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Abbas to ask Palestinian parliament to resume work soon

May 4, 2014 at 11:51 am

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is to issue a presidential decree asking the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) to resume its work immediately after the formation of a national unity government, the head of Fatah’s PLC bloc, Azzam Al-Ahmad, announced on Tuesday.


Al-Ahmad, who is also responsible for contacts with Hamas, said that discussions about the national government are to start this week.

Businessman Munib Al-Masri, a member of the reconciliation committee, was hosting Al-Ahmad, Hamas leader in the West Bank Ayman Daraghmeh and other factional leaders at his home in Ramallah to discuss the reconciliation issue.

According to the New Arab online news website, during the meeting Al-Ahmad stated that: “The reconciliation agreement guarantees the resumption of the PLC’s work in accordance with the different factional lists and blocs.”

Regarding holding the elections, which is one of the three main points of the reconciliation agreement, Al-Ahmad said that they would not take place before six months. He also reiterated that they would not hold any elections without Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, Al-Ahmad denied the rumours about Abbas imminently making a visit to the Gaza Strip. “Abbas will not visit Gaza before finalising the government,” he said, while adding that, “Abbas is able to visit Gaza at any time because it is part of the [Palestinian] state.”