Abbas orders head of elections commission to ready for elections

Palestinian Authority (PA), Fatah and PLO President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday ordered the head of the Central Elections Commission Hanna Naser to resume preparations for parliamentary elections, the Wafa news agency reported.

Abbas asked Naser to “immediately” start contacting the Palestinian factions regarding the parliamentary elections, stating that presidential elections wold be held six months later.

Abbas gave his orders to Naser during a meeting held at his office in Ramallah. He also told Naser that he had issued orders to the security services to ready themselves for elections.

During his speech at the 74th summit of the UN General Assembly two weeks ago, Abbas said he would call for general elections in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip.

Hamas gained an overwhelming majority in the last parliamentary elections held in the occupied territories in 2006. Neither Fatah nor the international community accepted the results of the ballot and refused to cede power to the group.

READ: Hamas accepts Abbas’s call to carry out presidential parliamentary elections