GAZA CITY: A new dispute has arisen between Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas over when President Mahmoud Abbas’ term expires. Gaza’s Hamas rulers and their supporters say Abbas’ tenure ends in five months, and after that there has to be new elections for a new president. Supporters of Abbas say he can stay in office until 2010.
The new dispute is likely to widen the rift between the two groups. Palestinian intellectuals suggest intervention of foreign and Arab law experts to settle it.
The interior minister of the deposed Hamas government in Gaza, Saeed Siyam, said yesterday that after Jan. 9, 2009, Abbas will not be president of the Palestinians legally. “There is nothing in the Palestinian constitution saying that the president has the right to extend his presidential term for an extra year. According to the constitution, the presidential term is four years,” said Siyam.
Fatah says Palestinian parliamentary and presidential elections should be held together in 2010.
