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Fatah, Hamas leaders discuss PLO reform in Cairo
Palestinian factions, including Hamas, are “on the path joining” the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal told AFP yesterday following unity talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas and Meshaal met to discuss reforming the PLO, in a bid to allow Hamas and 13 other Palestinian factions to join.
Meshaal said there was “an excellent atmosphere” surrounding his meeting with Abbas, which also included Egyptian intelligence chief Murad Muwafi and Palestinian independents. In a statement, Hamas said the groups had decided to create an electoral commission, including members of every Palestinian faction, tasked with managing elections within the PLO. The commission will be led by the speaker of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), Selim Zaanoun, and will meet in Jordan’s capital in January 2012.
Earlier in the day, Abbas signed off on the creation of a separate nine-member panel to chart a path forward for Palestinian presidential and legislative elections. It was the first time the provisional leadership body had met since it was formed in 2005, with the aim of providing a forum for debating reform of the PLO and allowing for the participation of factions such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The PLO is currently made up of ten groups, with Fatah the largest faction. The plan is that the PLO will now establish a provisional leadership and these new organisations joining will be incorporated into the various PLO institutions and the Palestine National Council (PNC), which represents the parliament in exile.
Mark Regev, spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, criticized the deal, saying that if Abbas embraces Hamas “he is walking away from peace”. Regev referred to the speeches made last week in Gaza by Hamas leaders marking the 25th anniversary of the organisation calling it a “stream of hateful, extremist rhetoric”. Regev added that Hamas is opposed to the peace process and reconciliation, does not believe in the existence of the Jewish state and justifies the use of terrorism.