Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, declared to the PLO Central Council on Wednesday that he expects its support as he plans to call early legislative and presidential elections in light of the current situation. The Gaza Strip, since the Fatah / Hamas confrontation a month ago, has been controlled by Hamas under deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh while the West Bank is administered by the Fatah-sponsored and Western backed Salam Fayyad.

Abbas’ address was uncharacteristically forceful in tone and content, a trait not normally associated with the composed President. The usually soft-spoken Fatah leader made regular outbursts at his opposition Hamas.

‘We will not wait for approval from those sitting over there in Gaza or from those sitting abroad…Hamas dug their own grave with their own nails as a result of the crimes they carried out in Gaza.’

Abbas refuses to negotiate with Hamas following their ‘coup’ against Fatah, despite Hamas politburo chief, Khaled Meshal, motioning for talks between the two factions. Senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, has rebutted Abbas’ comments by stating that the call for early elections must be agreed upon by a national agreement. Abu Zuhri and other Hamas officials have also stated that the PLO Central Committee is an ‘illegal institution’ which should not act as an authority over Palestinians because it does not include groups such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas under its representative jurisdiction. Hamas is adamant that despite what happened in Gaza, they are still the democratically elected party as decided upon in January 2006.

The premature call for elections has been a highly debated alternative. It is a card Abbas has had at his disposal as a potential solution to the stagnant political state of affairs. The PLO Central Council may endorse Abbas’ emergency government but under Palestinian Law, any government must receive the majority in the 132 member Palestinian Legislative Council. However, nearly half of the Hamas members in the PLC are in Israeli jails, which has invariably been the deciding factor in their boycott of the meetings, while the remaining number is not enough to assemble a quorum of 66.