Report: Fayyad offers Hamas Gaza, unity govt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 20, 2011 - 1:00am

Appointed PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has reportedly offered space in a unity government to Hamas, the Associated Press reported Sunday. Fayyad told the news organization that the move was aimed at ensuring presidential and legislative elections would go forward by September, after Hamas earlier refused to participate in the PA-run call to vote. According to the AP report, Hamas would remain in power in Gaza under an agreement that it would see it maintain a ceasefire with Israel, while Fayyad would govern in the West Bank.

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Abbas: National vote must include Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 17, 2011 - 1:00am

Elections must be held simultaneously in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday. It is "not acceptable to hold them in the West Bank only," Abbas said. At a news conference alongside President of East Timor Jose Ramos-Horta, Abbas said efforts would be made to ensure that the vote could go forward by September in all Palestinian areas. Last week, the Palestinian Authority announced it would hold presidential and legislative elections by September. A local election is also scheduled to take place on July 9.

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Aide: Palestinian elections proceed without Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - February 16, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian elections will go ahead this fall regardless of whether the Islamic Hamas participates, an aide to the Palestinian president said Wednesday. Yasser Abed Rabbo's statement means presidential and parliamentary elections might take place only in the West Bank, as Hamas has refused to allow elections in the Gaza Strip. "We can't be held hostage by Hamas and remain without elections," Abed Rabbo said.

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More Arab democracy, Palestinian this time
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - February 15, 2011 - 1:00am

In what is probably a long-overdue move, the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah has called for new local, presidential and parliamentary elections before September.

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More Arab democracy, Palestinian this time
In Print by Hussein Ibish - NOW Lebanon - February 15, 2011 - 1:00am

In what is probably a long-overdue move, the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah has called for new local, presidential and parliamentary elections before September.

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Palestinian cabinet quits as Fayyed is reappointed PM
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
February 15, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian cabinet has resigned, months before elections due in the summer, as the leadership sought to reaffirm its legitimacy after the collapse of talks with Israel, and uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. The move, which has been on the cards since last year, was announced at a cabinet meeting in Ramallah and comes after mass public protests in Tunisia and Egypt calling for democratic reforms.

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News Analysis: Palestinian elections a thorny issue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - February 15, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinians will head for the polls by September for presidential and legislative elections, according to an announcement by an aide to Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas. Fatah member Yasser Abed Rabbo called on parties to put aside all of their differences and to focus on conducting the elections in September at the latest. However, Hamas, who controls the Gaza Strip, has already rejected the idea and claimed that Abbas does not have the authority to decide when to hold elections, since his four-year term as president ended in 2009.

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Abbas asks Fayyad to form new government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 14, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad tendered his government's resignation Monday, just months before local and legislative elections are expected to be held. The move, which was announced during an early-morning cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, had been discussed since June, with officials saying the latest delay was due to the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, officials said.

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Palestinian officials pledge to hold elections by fall
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - February 13, 2011 - 1:00am

A day after watching Egypt's regime collapse, Palestinian officials promised Saturday they would elect new leadership in presidential and legislative elections by September, and said that their chief peace negotiator had tendered his resignation. The shakeup appeared to reflect an attempt by the Palestine Liberation Organization to navigate the tidal wave of democratic upheaval spreading through the Arab world and, if possible, to use its momentum to draw international attention to the Palestinian bid for self-determination.

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For valid elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Editorial) February 13, 2011 - 1:00am

The ripple effects of Hosni Mubarak’s ouster over the weekend are being felt all over the region. The message being sent out from Tahrir Square is that Mideast leaders who want to stay in power must garner legitimacy through a fair, democratic election process.

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