Abbas may quit before elections

Published today (updated) 18/11/2009 14:03

Bethlehem – Ma’an –

President Mahmoud Abbas hinted in a Tuesday evening interview with Egyptian TV that he may quit his post even before presidential and legislative elections take place.

“I will not necessarily seek a new term, and there are further steps I will take in time. The position [of President] is a means, not an end. My decision is clear: I will not run in any elections,” Abbas said answering a question about a potential candidacy.

The elections, initially called for 24 January, were called off when the Central Elections Committee announced it would be unable to prepare for and open voting stations in Gaza because of de facto government opposition to the move. The committee suggested the elections be postponed, and Abbas has not suggested any new date for the process.

Abbas' response was to defer the decision over what will happen once the term of the Palestinian Legislative Council runs out on 25 January to the PLO Central Council, which will meet mid-December to set out a plan. Hamas officials slammed the move, saying the PLO body did not represent the party, nor did it represent the majority of Palestinians.

The Egypt TV interviewer probed Abbas on rumors of a possible decision by the PLO body to request that Abbas remain in office until elections are held. “It is not important what the Central Council asks, but rather what I think and what I will do,” Abbas answered.

The president explained that he asked both the PLO’s Central Council and Executive Committee to search for a successor and a clear mechanism for elections. “There is nothing I can give to my people, so I should quit. I will not run in elections. I have other steps I will take when I determine what they will be,” he added.

Abbas then listed a number of factors he said were behind his decision to quit politics. The first reason he said was the failure of the political process because Israel and the US refused to take meaningful steps toward a peace deal.

The second reason was Israel’s refusal to recognize the terms of reference for the peace process recognized by the international community, especially establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, and halting settlement expansion.

The third reason he said was an ‘Israeli campaign’ which came in response to the Goldstone report.

However, Abbas named a number of accomplishments during his presidency. The first was reforming his Fatah movement after its sixth general conference was held in Bethlehem in August. Another accomplishment, according to Abbas was reviving the PLO. A third achievement was security and economic stability in the West Bank. The last achievement the president mentioned was signing the Egyptian reconciliation proposal.

Abbas also tackled the issue of declaring a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. He explained that it is not a unilateral step, but rather affirmation of what was guaranteed by international resolutions, and what the US and Europe pledged.

“We haven’t taken any unilateral step as Israel does every day when they erect more checkpoints and confiscate Palestinian lands,” he added.

“Former US president George Bush pledged a Palestinian state would be established on the 1967 borders. Bush said then he realized that the occupied territories were the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Jordan Valley, and the unallowable territories, and that all means lands occupied in 1967,” he added.

Abbas explained that the Palestinian Authority had an agreement with European states that the latter would present a document to the UN determining the 1967 borders of a Palestinian state. “They can’t find any pretext to refuse our suggestion seeking UN recognition of statehood. As for the Israelis, they refuse everything including international resolutions,” he insisted.

Finally Abbas mentioned the Egyptian reconciliation proposal. He said he didn’t expect Hamas to sign the proposal because, he said, they were waiting for Iran to approve the deal.

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