Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh on Friday called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's decision earlier Friday to postpone the Palestinian legislative elections, scheduled for May 22, a decision to cancel them.
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Abbas announced via a presidential decree early Friday that the first Palestinian elections in 15 years would be delayed, citing a dispute with Israel to call off a vote in which his fractured Fatah party was expected to suffer another embarrassing defeat to Hamas.
Hamas slammed the move as a "coup." But the indefinite postponement will be quietly welcomed by Israel and Western countries.
In a public address, Hamas said that in the preliminary negotiations over the Palestinian elections, Hamas had been extremely flexible and agreed to a number of requests by Fatah, including a law requiring proportional representation in the Palestinian parliament and to separate elections for the legislature and the president.
"We were and remain in favor of holding the elections as scheduled. We still think that it is possible to hold [legislative] elections on May 22," Haniyeh said.
Haniyeh called Abbas' reasons for delaying the elections "unconvincing," but stressed that Hamas had no desire to turn the election issue into another internal Palestinian crisis, underscoring that Hamas wanted to maintain dialogue with the rest of the Palestinian factions.
For ordinary Palestinians, the delay leaves a long-entrenched political leadership in place that has failed to advance their hopes for statehood, heal the bitter rift between Fatah and Hamas or lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip, and which is seen as increasingly corrupt and authoritarian. Presidential elections planned for July also appeared to be on hold.
Abbas insisted elections could not be held without the full participation of Palestinians in east Jerusalem. Israel has yet to say whether it would allow voting by mail there as in past elections and has enforced a ban on Palestinian Authority activities, including campaign events.
"Faced with this difficult situation, we decided to postpone the date of holding legislative elections until the participation of Jerusalem and its people in these elections is guaranteed," Abbas said. "There will be no concession on Jerusalem and no concession on our people in Jerusalem exercising their democratic rights."
The fate of east Jerusalem, home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, is one of the most sensitive issues in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But delaying the elections over Jerusalem could also be seen as a pretext, because only a small number of voters in the city would actually require Israel's permission. Abbas' rivals had suggested workarounds so as not to give Israel an effective veto over elections.
Abbas said the Palestinian Authority has repeatedly sought assurances from Israel and has called on the European Union to exert pressure, to no avail. He said it received a letter from Israel on Thursday saying it could not take a position on the elections because it does not yet have a government following its own elections last month – the fourth in two years.
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Hamas had been expected to perform well in the May 22 parliamentary elections because of widening divisions within Fatah, which split into three rival lists. The group condemned the delay, saying the decision "doesn't agree with the national consensus and popular support and is a coup."
Prior to the announcement, Hamas had issued a statement saying the Palestinians should explore ways of "forcing the elections in Jerusalem without the permission of or coordination with the occupation."
Israel has not said whether it will allow voting in east Jerusalem but has expressed concern about Hamas' growing strength. Israel and Western countries would likely boycott any Palestinian government that includes the group.
The day after US President Joe Biden exhorted Americans to "prove that democracy still works" in an address to Congress, his State Department distanced itself from the Palestinian vote.
"The exercise of democratic elections is a matter for the Palestinian people and for the Palestinian leadership to determine," spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington. "We believe in an inclusive political process."
Fatah says the elections cannot be held without Israel giving express permission for east Jerusalem residents to vote. Its opponents have called for creative solutions, such as setting up ballot boxes in schools or religious sites.
But Abbas appeared to rule that out, joking that the Palestinians would not vote in "the Hungarian Embassy."
The dispute has taken on greater import since the start of the holy month of Ramadan, as Muslim protesters have clashed with Israeli police over restrictions on gatherings.
The elections, and a presidential vote planned for July 31, offered a rare opportunity for the Palestinians to empower a new leadership and potentially chart a different course in their long, stalled struggle for independence.
The 85-year-old Abbas and his inner circle of Fatah figures, now in their 60s and 70s, have dominated the Palestinian Authority for nearly two decades and have made little effort to empower a new generation of leaders.
The last elections, held in 2006 with international support and Israeli cooperation, saw Hamas win a landslide victory after campaigning as a scrappy underdog untainted by corruption. That sparked an internal crisis culminating in Hamas' seizure of Gaza the following year, which confined Abbas' authority to parts of the West Bank.
