The Palestinian Authority (PA) is considering postponing the legislative elections scheduled for May 22, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ aide Nabil Shaath said on Tuesday.
In a statement quoted by the Xinhua news agency, Shaath said that postponing the elections is a possibility if Israel does not allow holding the elections in eastern Jerusalem.
The PA has continuously demanded that Israel permit Arabs residing in eastern Jerusalem to vote in the elections. In this regard, PA officials have been working in the international arena in an attempt to get Israel to agree to this demand.
The PA has in the past used Israel’s refusal to permit Jerusalem Arabs to vote as an excuse not to hold elections at all.
Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told reporters in Ramallah on Monday that the PA estimates that Israel will not respond to the request to permit the elections in eastern Jerusalem.
"Ignoring the official Palestinian request to allow holding the elections in East Jerusalem is a clear response that the Israeli government doesn't want to allow the elections in East Jerusalem," Majdalani said.
He told Xinhua that Abbas will chair a meeting for the Palestinian Arab factions on April 26 and 27 to discuss the issue.