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Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/801767.html
Abbas' Dangerous Gamble
[Ha'aretz] Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel - If Abbas does not name an election date within a few weeks, he will appear weak. But he needs the agreement of Hamas for a date, and that does not seem to be in the offing. Even if Hamas only sits on the fence, without its participation, elections will be meaningless. The Fatah Central Committee has made clear it does not want early elections, because its chances of gaining a majority of the parliament are thin, and Abbas will have trouble winning the chairmanship against Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh. Moreover, Palestinian law requires the PA chairman to resign close to the time a date for elections is set. The speaker of the PA parliament, Aziz Duek, of Hamas, now in an Israeli prison, would be appointed in his stead. Abbas would be giving the chairmanship on a silver platter to Hamas on the day he sets the election date.