Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will declare the Hamas-led
government as an interim administration until holding referendum
next year, local Maan news agency reported on Thursday.
Well-informed sources were quoted as saying that Abbas was not
going to sack the Hamas-led government, but the government will be
called as an interim as a compromise.
The news came two days before Abbas address the nation. The
sources termed as "inclusive and historical" the speech which Abbas
will deliver on Saturday about the political crisis that worsened
after Hamas took office in March.
According to the sources, Abbas will set March 2007 as time to
call public referendum on holding early parliamentary and
presidential elections.
In his speech, Abbas will vow to pay salaries for the 165,000
government employees from the National Fund that belongs to the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
The Hamas-led government's failure to pay salaries and the
financial crisis were the key objective that pushed Palestinian
factions to look for a unity government.
International donors stopped funding the Hamas administration
because it has refused to recognize Israel and renounce
violence.
However, Ahmed Yousef, the political advisor of Prime Minister
Ismail Haneya, has ruled out that Abbas calls for a referendum or
early elections.
He expected that Abbas will talk in details about the situation
in the Palestinian territories and the siege imposed on the people,
warning against the negative results that would affect the whole
Palestinian scene if early elections or referendum were called.
"The president is not authorized to call for referendum," said
Yousef, stressing that any call for referendum would be considered
illegal.
(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2006)
