The Islamic Jihad terrorist group announced over the weekend that it will boycott the Palestinian Authority parliamentary election scheduled for May because the vote is being held under the auspices of the Oslo Accords, Israel Hayom reported Sunday.
The report noted that Islamic Jihad has boycotted all previous Palestinian presidential and parliamentary elections.
Palestinian Arab sources said that the group’s decision to boycott the elections was taken in coordination with Iran.
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently issued a decree ordering general elections in PA-assigned territories.
The decree states that legislative elections will take place on May 22. A “presidential” election will take place on July 31. It sets a deadline of August 31 for establishing the Palestinian National Council.
Abbas' term as PA chairman was meant to expire in 2009, but he has remained in office in the absence of elections.
No PA elections have taken place since 2006 and similar initiatives in the past have failed to result in elections.
Last week, representatives of Palestinian Arab organizations who met in Cairo reached a comprehensive agreement on holding general elections.