RAMALLAH, West Bank. Nov 12 — The body responsible for organising Palestinian elections in January will recommend postponing the vote, a senior official in the Fatah movement said today.
Political analysts expect the recommendation will be accepted by the leadership and the scheduled presidential and parliamentary polls will be postponed, as many had predicted.
President Mahmoud Abbas had set January 24 as the date for the presidential and legislative elections after his rivals in the Hamas group, which controls the Gaza Strip, refused to sign a reconciliation proposal that scheduled the elections in June.
“The committee will recommend postponing elections because Hamas has rejected elections in Gaza,” the official, who declined to give his name, told Reuters.
The official said the recommendation had already been communicated to the president, who has said on several occasions that he would be ready to postpone the vote if Hamas changed its mind and agree to the reconciliation pact. ? Reuters
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