Wednesday 16 December 2009

Palestinian gov’t warns PLO’s central council of taking decisions against law




PIC

[ 16/12/2009 - 07:22 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Palestinian government in Gaza on Wednesday warned the central council of the Palestine liberation organization (PLO) of taking any decision outside the framework of the Palestinian law and constitution.

During its weekly cabinet meeting, the government said that the PLO’s central council’s decision to extend Mahmoud Abbas’s term of office deepens the internal division and makes it more complicated.

It called on the PLO factions to give primacy to the higher interests of the Palestinian people over the American veto imposed on the national reconciliation.

The cabinet highlighted a number of important issues at the security, political and administrative levels as well as the speech of premier Ismail Haneyya at the 22nd anniversary festival of Hamas Movement especially his points about the national rescue initiative.

The cabinet welcomed the arrest warrant issued in London against Israeli war criminal Tzipi Livni and hailed it as a step in the right direction.

It also called on other countries and human rights organizations which are keen on enforcing international law and believe in justice to follow suit and work on the prosecution of Israeli war criminals.

The government strongly denounced the security apparatuses of the Palestinian Authority (PA) for continuing to carry out political arrest campaigns against Hamas cadres, while it allowed members of the PLO’s central council in Gaza to travel to the West Bank.

The government reaffirmed the illegality of these arrests which take place within the framework of the security coordination with the Israeli occupation.

In a statement, the Movement of Hamas said Wednesday that the PLO’s central council does not have a constitutional authority to extend Abbas’s term of office, stressing that this council is an illegal body because it is part of invalid institutions and all its decisions are null and void, and non-binding to the Palestinian people.

Hamas affirmed that Abbas’s term of office expired in January 25 this year, thus he is no longer the PA chief and all his edicts and decisions issued after this date is invalid by virtue of the Palestinian basic law which sets the presidential term limit to four years.

The statement underlined that the Palestinian legislative council (PLC) is still working under a constitutional mandate and not according to the blessing of an illegitimate council, adding that the PLC will continue assuming its duties fully until a new elected council swears in in accordance with the basic law.

In another context, Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil, the spokesman of Hamas’s parliamentary bloc, stated Wednesday that his Movement is studying the proposal made by the national reconciliation committee on the resumption of reconciliation talks in Cairo and will give its response soon.

Dr. Bardawil said that Hamas welcomes any effort that would reunite the Palestinian arena and end the internal division.

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