RAMALLAH – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Thursday it would be “unacceptable” for planned elections to be held only in the West Bank with Gazans left out of the polls. “The presidential and legislative elections must take place in the West Bank, in the Gaza Strip and in east Jerusalem,” he said at a joint news conference with visiting East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta.
“It would be unacceptable for them to be held only in the West Bank and not in Gaza. Without that it would not be possible to hold them,” he said, indicating the refusal by Gaza’s Hamas rulers to take part could compromise the entire vote. “The internal division is the biggest danger which we are facing and our first concern is to restore national unity, that is why we have called presidential and legislative elections so the people settle this question.”
