RAMALLAH, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian official announced on Monday that several factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) intend to form a unified list to compete in the upcoming elections that are scheduled on May 22.
Wassel Abu Yousef, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, told Voice of Palestine that leaders of the PLO factions met last week in Ramallah and discussed the possibility of forming a unified list to compete in the upcoming elections.
Abu Yousef is also the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF), one of the minor PLO's factions. The PLO includes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah Movement and several other left-wing groups.
"Out of the 12 factions, members in the PLO, leaders of four factions expressed readiness to join the unified list to compete in the legislative elections scheduled on May 22," Abu Yousef said.
However, he added that there are efforts to convince the eight other factions' leaders to join the list which will be headed by Fatah Movement.
Abbas issued ten days ago three decrees that set dates for holding the legislative elections on May 22, the presidential elections on July 31, and the elections for the National Council on August 31.
Leaders of Palestinian factions and political powers, including the Hamas movement and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are expected to convene in Cairo on the first week of February to discuss the mechanisms of holding the elections. Enditem
