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The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) decided on Sunday that there would be no presidential and parliamentarian elections as long as Israel keeps occupying Palestinian cities in the West Bank.
The PNA said in a statement issued following the weekly meeting of its cabinet chaired by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah that the Palestinian central committee for elections would continue to work as usual.
"The committee would continue preparing for elections until our people feel the freedom and see the Israeli army pulling out from the cities, towns and villages it occupied," said the statement, without giving a new date.
Arafat and the PNA had decided to go for presidential and parliamentarian elections on Jan. 20. However, Israel reoccupied most of the West Bank in July, and kept its tanks and troops there.
Members of the central committee for election who met with Arafat two days ago recommended to Arafat to postpone elections until the Israeli army withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories.
The PNA said that the Israeli government is completely responsible for keeping the military occupation of the Palestinian territories as well as blocking the Palestinian leadership from going to elections.
(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2002)
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