No need for Palestinian referendum: Hamas PM

Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya, seen here on June 7, has said in an interview that he sees no need for a referendum planned by Mahmud Abbas and warned the Palestinian president not to force a ballot against the government's wishes.(AFP/Mahmud Hams)

Jun 9, 2006

Yahoo News

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya has said in an interview that he saw no need for a referendum planned by Mahmud Abbas and warned the Palestinian president not to force a ballot against the government's wishes.

In the interview with Israel's Yediot Aharonot newspaper, published on the eve of an expected announcement by Abbas for the referendum next month, Haniya reiterated that differences between the governing Islamists and Abbas's Fatah faction should be resolved through negotiations rather than via the ballot box.

"We don't need a referendum. I have no doubt that we will reach understandings," said Haniya.

"We are doing everything possible to make the national dialogue succeed. The sword of time should not be placed at our throat."

The document Abbas wants to put to the vote calls for a national unity government, an end to attacks in Israel and the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel on land conquered by the Jewish state in 1967.

If accepted, the blueprint would undercut Hamas's platform of refusing to recognise Israel or disavow violence even within Israeli borders, as well as bounce it into a coalition with Fatah.

Abbas, in contrast, has long championed a negotiated settlement to the conflict with Israel and criticised suicide bombings.

His spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, confirmed late Thursday that the president would sign a decree on Saturday setting the July 31 date for the referendum.

Haniya said parts of the document, drawn up by senior prisoners from all factions who are held in Israeli jails, were acceptable but not the whole package.

"The accord can serve as a basis for talks. It has clauses that are acceptable to us, and others that need to be discussed and a new formula has to be found for them," said Haniya.

"We have no choice but to work together, to be patient, to continue the dialogue. We are doing everything to make the dialogue succeed."

The referendum is designed to draw a line under rivalry between Hamas and Fatah which was thrashed in January's parliamentary election.

A total of 16 people have been killed in Fatah-Hamas clashes since May, with the two sides battling over control of the security services.

"The clashes on the ground are regrettable," said Haniya. "No one is pleased by what is happening.

"We will work to halt the street battles. We don't want this anarchy. Chaos on the Palestinian street could affect the entire region. Civil war is not in our vocabulary."