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Follow Us on TwitterPLO declares death of dialogue, says unity now up to elections 17Oct09 October 18, 2009
Ma’an News Agency - 17 October 2009
Speaking from Ramallah on behalf of the PLO and all those factions it represents, the organization’s Secretary Yasser Abed Rabbo said “this is the last time we will accept a proposal…this is the last time and we will never repeat it again.”
At a press conference in Ramallah Abed Rabbo responded to Hamas’ announcement that it would send a delegation with several suggestions to Cairo on Sunday. Egyptian mediators told Fatah and Hamas leaders last week they were to respond to the latest proposal with a simple yes or no by 15 October. On 14 October Fatah signed the agreement.
“We will not accept any comments, reservations, or amendments; we will not even accept the extension of time. The acceptance of the Egyptian paper should have been [done already], and now we have no other choice to get out of the cycle that has been tried four times this year,” the official told journalists.
Abed Rabbo said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to announce impending elections on 25 October, 90 days ahead of what would be the 25 January elections date according to current elections law. “With our without reconciliation,” Abed Rabbo said, elections will be held.
He called for Arab and international monitors during the elections to guarantee that Palestinian votes decide the future of Palestine. As for the mechanisms behind such an election, he said, “we found ways in the past we will find ways in the future.”
As long as Hamas does not agree to the latest Egyptian unity document, “we have no other option but the 25 of January.”
He accused Hamas of not wanting “national harmony, elections, or reconciliation, but it wants a national determination that depends on what is being decided in Tehran.”
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