Abbas says to dissolve PA parliament 'soon'

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that he would dissolve the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and the parliament of the Palestinian Authority, which Hamas won a majority in 2006.

"In a legal way, we will dissolve the Legislative Council and this will happen soon," said Abbas.

Abbas was speaking at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah at a conference organized by the Ministry of National Economy on governance and fighting corruption.

Hamas, which won an overwhelming majority in 2006, has refused to dissolve the PLC, claiming that Abbas has no authority to dissolve it.

According to the Palestinian law, parliamentary elections have to be held every four years. However, the last parliamentary elections held in the Palestinian territories were in 2006.

The PLC meetings were stalled after Hamas had violently seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

During the conference, Abbas reviewed a number of agreements signed with Hamas to end the 12 years of internal division, the most recent of which was the Egyptian-sponsored agreement signed in October 2017.

However, it has not been implemented so far and the two sides, Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party, are in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip trading accusations on who is responsible for the delay.

Abbas' move would remove any remaining authority and power Hamas has in the PLC, a freelance journalist of Al-Monitor said, adding such a move would further deepen the Palestinian division between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Mohsen Abu Ramadan, an independent member of the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) led by Abbas, said the best solution to this legal controversy on dissolving the PLC is for the PCC to call for general elections without dissolving the PLC.

"Otherwise, greater Palestinian divisions are guaranteed," Abu Ramadan added, according to Al-Monitor.

(Cover photo: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses to the UN General Assembly in New York, September 27, 2018. /VCG Photo)

(With inputs from Xinhua News Agency)