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Sputnik International
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends a virtual meeting with Palestinian factions over Israel and the United Arab Emirates deal to normalise ties, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank September 3, 2020. Alaa Badarneh/Pool via REUTERS
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday postponed planned elections amid a dispute over voting in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem and divisions in his Fatah party.
Abbas, 85, issued a presidential decree postponing the May 22 parliamentary and July 31 presidential elections, the official news agency WAFA said.
He blamed Israel for uncertainty about whether it would allow the elections to proceed in East Jerusalem as well as in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
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The decision came three months after he announced the first national elections for 15 years in what was widely seen as a response to criticism of the democratic legitimacy of Palestinian institutions, including his own presidency.
Earlier on Thursday evening, Abbas said that disputes with Israel over holding legislative elections in East Jerusalem might mean the vote – Palestinians first since 2006 – be delayed.
“As soon as Israel agrees” to let Palestinians vote in Jerusalem, “we’ll hold the election within a week,” Abbas told a meeting of representatives of most Palestinian factions in Ramallah, providing no clear timeline.