Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Tuesday that his movement gave a positive response to the election plan for Palestinian Arab institutions that was sent by Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas through the head of the Central Election Commission, Hanna Nasser.
"All we long for is successful elections and for them to be held in Gaza, the West Bank and al-Quds (eastern Jerusalem) as there is no meaning for elections without al-Quds, and this is not acceptable to the Fatah movement, to the Hamas movement, or any of the other Palestinian organizations," Haniyeh said.
The leader of the terrorist organization further said that Hamas will continue to hold talks with the Palestinian organizations to advance the elections to the Palestinian National Council, which is the representative framework of the Palestinian people in and outside “Palestine”, in order to rebuild the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) institutions so that they can play a leadership role representing all organizations.
He stressed that Hamas' positive response to the Election Commission is important and it opens the door to the general elections to the parliament and the Palestinian presidency.
Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative polls, which were the last ones to have been held. Recently, however, Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas renewed a pledge to hold fresh parliamentary elections.
Abbas' term as PA chairman was meant to expire in 2009, but he has remained in office in the absence of elections.
Hamas still demands elections to the PLO institutions as a means to take control of the organization and in this way gain international recognition.