Palestinian President will not run for next Presidential elections

Tuesday May 10, 2011 21:18 by George Rishmawi - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed that he will not run for the presidential elections to be held in 2012, Palestine News Network (PNN) reported.

PNN added that Abbas demanded the Fatah delegation who visited, who came from Gaza to Ramallah for the firs time since 2006, to help rebuild the Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip.

The sources added that the Fatah leaders in Gaza expressed serious concerns over the unity deal as they claimed they were not informed by the official channels of Fatah about the deal.

Abbas was elected President in January 2005 after the death of Yasser Arafat in November 2004. According to Palestinian basic law, President term is 4 years. After the division between Hamas and Fatah deepened in 2007, the Palestinian Authority refused to hold local, Parliamentary and Presidential elections.

The PA called for elections of local governments in July and General elections in September, the two dates are still uncertain.

palestine | palestinian politics | news report george at imemc dot org