RAMALLAH/GAZA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party on Wednesday refused a request by Gaza-based political factions to hold a meeting between political parties before Abbas announces a presidential decree for general elections.
Majed Fityani, Fatah's revolutionary council secretary general, told Xinhua that "holding a dialogue between the political factions before the presidential decree would open doors for disagreements or allow a particular party to stand behind a pretext to invite obstacles in the path of elections."
He said that Fatah "supports the dialogue after the presidential decree for elections."
On Tuesday, Abbas sent a memo on elections to Gaza-based factions, requesting their signatures to declare their commitment to the 2007 elections law and to holding the elections in East Jerusalem.
However, Gaza's political factions, especially Islamic Hamas movement, which has been running the coastal enclave since 2007, insists on holding dialogue before elections.
Head of Palestine's Central Elections Commission Hanna Nasser has been holding meetings with different factions in Gaza and Ramallah in hope of reaching an agreement.
Abbas' aide and Fatah central committee member Hussein Al-Shaikh said "after the decree, a national dialogue would start amongst all members of the Palestinian political spectrum in order to make the elections succeed and draw the features of national partnership."
Last parliamentary elections were held in the Palestinian territories in 2006, where Hamas, ruler of Gaza, won a majority while Abbas was elected the Palestinian president in 2005.
Hamas and Fatah have exchanged accusations of impeding the new elections, amid fears that Israel will not allow elections to be held in East Jerusalem.
