Abbas amends election law by decree
Published yesterday (updated) 17/05/2012 19:48
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=486916

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday issued an executive
order amending the 2005 election law as a precursor to holding a municipal
vote sooner than scheduled, an official said.

The minister of local governance, Khaled Qawasmi, told Voice of Palestine
radio that the decree would help the new government take a decision to hold
elections "as soon as possible."

He added that the law would allow holding an election in more than one stage
in case more than a day was needed.

Hamas, meanwhile, blasted the decision, calling it "unacceptable."

The move is corrupt because it puts the premiership in charge of the
election and violates the Doha agreement to reconcile the occupied West Bank
and Gaza Strip, said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

The PA has a poor track record of respecting the outcome of elections, he
noted.

A spokesman for the Hamas government, Taher Nunu, called Fayyad's new
government illegal according to the Palestinian Basic Law.

"Forming this government amounts to exporting the internal crisis of Fatah,
and corruption scandals," he said in a statement, which slammed the
presidential order for strengthening division.

Nunu said he supported holding elections in theory but said they should be
held by a government that is agreed upon by the people. He called on Fatah
to stop making decisions unilaterally.