Abbas confirms not to run in elections
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in Ramallah Thursday he will not run in the presidential election in January 2010.
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Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reads a statement in West Bank city of Ramallah on Nov. 5, 2009. Abbas said here Thursday he won't run for another term in the presidential election in January 2010. [Hua Chunyu/Xinhua] |
In a live speech, Abbas said he has informed the Central Committee of his Fatah movement and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) about his intention. "I hope they will understand my position," he said.
Abbas announced his decision after he reviewed a grim situation due to the suspension of peace talks with Israel and the failure to end internal Palestinian crisis as the Gaza-ruling Hamas movement rejected an Egyptian offer to reconcile with Fatah.
Abbas warned that his announcement not to stand in the election is not the last option. "There are more steps I will take," Abbas said without elaborating.
He also said during the speech that the Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem "destroy the credibility of the peace talks."
Abbas refuses to resume the negotiations until Israel freezes the settlement since the building annexed more Palestinian land to Israel and undermined chances of having a Palestinian statehood alongside Israel.
Meanwhile, Abbas said the two-state solution "was still possible despite dangers surrounding this way."
He added that the entire peace process "stands on a road junction," revealing that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)"was surprised by Washington's preference of the Israeli position which refuses to stop the settlement."
Meanwhile, the Hamas movement, the bitter rival of Abbas' Fatah party, said running or withdrawing from the elections was an internal affair of Abbas' own Fatah party.
"Abbas' decision not to run in the elections is a personal affair and we don't have anything to do with that," Salah al-Bardaweel, a senior Hamas official, told reporters in Gaza.
He added that Hamas still extends its hand for reconciliation with Fatah.
When decreeing the elections in January 2010, Abbas said polls would be the best way to overcome the political split between the Hamas-controlled Gaza and the West Bank where his Fatah movement holds sway.
The elections decree was issued in late October after Hamas rejected an Egyptian proposal to settle the Palestinian internal crisis.
However, Hamas rejects the elections and warned Gazans not to deal with Abbas' call for polls, threatening to thwart the voting.
Abbas, 70, was elected as president in January 2005 after the death of late leader Yasser Arafat.
