Hamas official blasts PA failure to hold new elections

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahhar on Saturday accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of failing to fulfill his promise to hold elections for the Palestinian parliament.

In a televised interview with the Hamas-affiliated al-Aqsa TV channel aired Saturday evening, Zahhar rejected Abbas' invitation to Hamas to sign a document pledging to take part in presidential and parliamentary elections.

He demanded that instead of asking Hamas to sign new agreements, the president uphold his own responsibilities to hold the elections as outlined by the Cairo agreement signed between Fatah and Hamas in 2012.

The statement signals ongoing disagreements between the two largest Palestinian parties regarding the future of the government of national unity currently in place, less than a year after it's formation was agreed upon to much fanfare.

In 2011, Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement in Doha in which Abbas pledged to lead an interim government of technocrats before elections to be held in May 2012.

The elections were never held, but in 2012 in Cairo Abbas recommitted himself to holding elections. Since then, however, political disputes and Israeli offensives against the Gaza Strip have sidelined elections. more

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