Islamic Jihad to take part in local elections

Friday 13/05/2011

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Islamic Jihad will participate in local elections, but not in presidential or legislative elections, movement leader Nafeth Azzam said Thursday.

Azzam told Ma'an that Islamic Jihad would take part in National Council elections, as it included Palestinians from the occupied territories and abroad, and the council was not involved in agreements signed with Israel.

Islamic Jihad would also participate in local elections, as they were important to provide services to people and were not related to any agreements signed with Israel.

However, the movement would not take part in presidential or legislative elections as they stemmed from the Oslo Accords, which the movement rejected, Azzam said.

The Jihad official said the party would join the Palestine Liberation Organization, once it was restructured and reformed.

Islamic Jihad was part of the Cairo Agreement of March 2005, in which factions agreed to form a committee of general secretaries, Executive Committee members and independent leaders to manage PLO affairs until elections were held.

Azzam said Islamic Jihad welcomed the reconciliation agreement signed last week in Cairo. The party had made huge efforts to end the internal division between Hamas and Fatah, and the West Bank and Gaza, he said.

The movement was working to enforce the reconciliation, Azzam said, adding that the next stage would be difficult due to Israel's opposition to Palestinian unity. Islamic Jihad was ready to increase efforts to remove residues of the division from the ground, the official said.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387236.