Cairo called the Palestinian factions to continue discussions on elections
President of the Palestinian National Initiative, Ayed Yaghi, stated that Cairo sent an invitation to the Palestinian factions for the continuation of the national dialogue next week. He also confirmed an invitation to continue discussions on March 16-17.
Indeed, eighteen factions gathered, on Feb. 8, in Cairo and decided to hold legislative elections. They actually woul discuss, during the discussions this month, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) elections.
Moreover, Hamas movement has the intention to reach a deal about the PNC’s elections before making the legislative elections. The next discussions are very important for the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine that has declared boycotting to the legislative elections, but not the PNC’s.
On his part, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has fixed legislative elections for May 22 and the presidential vote on July 31. In fact, outcomes of the legislative elections are the first step for establishing the PNC that would be concluded on August 31.
The Central Elections Commission previously issued details and conditions to apply for the legislative elections, indicating that the step for declaring candidacies prolongs from March 20 until March 31.
About the conditions, the total of applicants in each list must be a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 132, a quota for the representation of women must be respected, also the candidate must not be under 28 and must be a enduring resident of the Palestinian territories and hasn’t been sentenced of a crime or violation.
