Washington will not object to the Palestinian Authority’s decision to postpone the legislative elections scheduled for next month, an unnamed US source told the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds on Friday, adding that the possible boost for Hamas s power could end the prospects for a two-state solution.
According to the newspaper, the votes in the PA are increasing that the election will be postponed to May 22.
The anonymous “informed” source told the outlet: “The United States certainly supports and encourages free, fair, transparent and periodic elections, if possible.”
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But he was also aware of the various challenges facing the Palestinians, including the coronavirus pandemic, economic problems and the duality of rule between the West Bank, dominated by the PA, and the Gaza Strip, run by the Hamas terrorist group. be governed.
Former Fatah official Nasser al-Kidwa, center left, and Marwan Barghouti’s wife, Fadwa, center right, leave the Palestinian Central Electoral Commission’s office after presenting their joint list for the upcoming parliamentary elections in May, in the city. Ramallah, West Bank, registered. , 31 March 2021. (AP / Nasser Nasser)
He said he believed the Biden government “would look with understanding at the possibility of postponing the election for a while.”
Referring to Hamas, which is running in the election, the source warned that “the rise of Palestinian forces that reject the two-state solution reject the failure of violence and refuse to stop the anti-Israel and American rhetoric, or abandon the incitement. – the rise of such powers to the decision-making position will complicate, or even completely dispel, the prospects for the two-state solution. ”
He added that “all indications are that the multiple divisions within Fatah, and the quasi-tribal conflict between the various factions of Fatah, will reduce the ability to mobilize the Palestinians in a way that enables them to defeat Hamas. defeat. ‘
Fatah and other parties of the Palestinian Liberation Organization said on Monday that there would be no Palestinian elections without the participation of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, which according to some observers was an attempt to lay the groundwork to cancel the election.
Palestinians have not held national legislative elections for more than 15 years.
Israel is undermining the Palestinian Authority’s activities within Jerusalem, viewing it as a violation of Israeli sovereignty in its capital.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaks at a Palestinian leadership meeting in the city of Ramallah on September 3, 2020. (Flash90)
The Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the PLO outline specific procedures for holding Palestinian elections, including provisions committing Israel to allowing Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote at post offices in the capital.
The agreements also state that every Palestinian faction in the election must accept the legality of Oslo, which commits Palestinians to recognize Israel and abandon the armed struggle. Some of the factions that have announced they will take part in the forthcoming legal vote – including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the PFLP – reject the Oslo Accords.
Palestinian officials say Israel has yet to respond to a formal request to allow Palestinians to vote inside East Jerusalem. It is unlikely that Israeli authorities in the city will be able to vote or compete with Palestinian candidates, especially the Hamas terrorist group.
Currently, about 93% of Palestinians are registered to vote and 36 parliamentary lists have been presented and approved.
But Abbas’ Fatah movement has become increasingly fragmented in recent weeks, with popular Palestinian security prisoner Marwan Barghouti and former PLO former cousin Yasser Arafat’s cousin Nasser al-Kidwa forming a rival candidate against Abbas has.
Turbulent speculation has begun that Abbas – for fear of a possible loss to his Fatah opponents or a Hamas strengthened by internal Fatah divisions – will try to slow down or even cancel the vote.
Hamas officials have warned Abbas not to use Jerusalem or any other excuse to postpone or cancel the current vote this time.
“We refuse to postpone the election under any pretext,” senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouq tweeted last week.
Aaron Boxerman contributed to this report.
