Abbas pushed into gamble after running out of options
By Karin Laub
RAMALLAH: By calling new elections, President Mahmoud Abbas could end up losing his job and crowning the Hamas as the sole ruler of the Palestinian territories.
But after months of political gridlock, Mr Abbas had run out of options and had to take the huge gamble.
Mr Abbas was fed up with the recalcitrant Hamas and feared the Palestinians were missing a new opportunity to resume peace talks with Israel. The public was also clamouring for him to assert his leadership, his aides said.
Yet Mahmud Abbas has not given up entirely on a coalition deal with Hamas, despite months of fruitless negotiations, and hopes a serious push toward elections might scare the militants into agreeing to a new government of independent experts acceptable to the West.
In that case, he would likely call off the election. “He has said his first priority is the unity government,” said political analyst Ali Jerbawi. “He is leaving room for a national unity government.”
Elections would not be held for several months _ June is given as the earliest possible date by Mr Abbas's advisers _ and could be thwarted by escalating factional fighting, legal challenges or a wall-to-wall boycott threatened by Hamas and several other Palestinian factions.
A poll published on Sunday indicated that a majority of Palestinians support the idea of early presidential and parliamentary elections _ though they might not necessarily vote for Mr Abbas and his Fatah Party.
The survey, by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, had Mr Abbas in a statistical tie with the most popular Hamas politician, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, 46 per cent to 45 per cent, in a presidential race. A third candidate in the race would likely rob Mr Abbas of any chance of winning.—AP
