Abbas’ decision to delay election is sign of a crisis
The decision to postpone July’s scheduled Palestinian parliamentary election is more than a sly maneuver by the dominant Fatah party. It is a sign of a growing crisis in the fledgling Palestinian democracy and of mounting internal pressure on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas’ weekend announcement that the election would be delayed indefinitely as he tried to resolve a dispute over election-law reform was widely perceived as a political dodge designed to reverse the momentum of Hamas, whose candidates have scored large victories in recent municipal polls. Full Story