President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed to proceed with the conduct of legislative elections in all Palestinian territories, including eastern Jerusalem.

This came in a phone call Abbas received from Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany on Wednesday.

They discussed the latest developments in the Palestinians and international arena and the bilateral relationships between the two countries.

Abbas said that they called on the international Quartet, Germany, and other countries to force Israel to agree on conducting elections in Occupied Jerusalem due to the signed agreements and what had happened in previous Palestinian elections.

Merkel expressed support to the Palestinian elections, noting that Germany will make its call and efforts to make the Palestinian elections conducted in all Palestinian lands, including Jerusalem.

On May 20, advance voting starts for security men, and on May 22, general voting starts. Preliminary results appear on May 23, and final results appear in two weeks of voting day.

Abbas released a presidential statement to conduct elections on 3 levels: Legislative on May 22, Presidential on July 31, and National Council on August 31.

The last elections of the Legislative Council were conducted at the beginning of 2006 and ended with the winning of the Hamas movement. In 2005, the last presidential elections were conducted and ended with the winning of Mahmoud Abbas.

Source : Safa