Ramallah: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas proposed on Tuesday simultaneous elections for the Palestinian presidency, parliament and the Palestinian National Council if Hamas accepts the idea.
"Elections are the only way out to overcome the current Palestinian division," he said during a joint press conference with the President of Cyprus, Dimitris Christofias, at the Palestinian Presidential Headquarters in Ramallah.
Abbas said that the Palestinian leadership strongly supports Palestinian voices across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, demanding an end to the Palestinian split. "We fully respect the will of the Palestinian public and fully support the demonstrations all over the Palestinian Territories demanding an end to the Palestinian division," he said.
"We fully support the idea of conducting elections for the Palestinian presidency, legislative council and national council at the same time should they [Hamas] accept the idea," he said.
Abbas said that the peace process has reached a critical and dangerous impasse because of the illegal Israeli colonial activities in the Palestinian Territories, mainly in occupied East Jerusalem.
"I strongly urge the international powers, mainly the Mideast Quartet, to press Israel to halt its colonial activities and end its occupation of the Palestinian Territories," he said. "It is time for a Palestinian independent state to become a member of the United Nations. The Palestinians have met all the requirements to set up their independent state," he said.
Christofias said that the Palestinian diplomatic representation in Cyprus will be upgraded to full status and Cyprus will soon receive a Palestinian Ambassador. "Cyprus fully and strongly supports the setting up of an independent Palestinian state with full sovereign borders," he said, adding that Cyprus also fully supports Palestinian unity.
"We fully support the implementation of international legitimacy and respect of the sovereignty of the states in resolving the Palestinian cause as well as the problem of Cyprus," he said.
"We are working out a viable and workable solution to end the issue of the Israeli colonial activities and occupation," he said.
"Cyprus will fully support and work on coordinating Palestinian relations with the EU," he said.
Abbas said that there is no contradiction in the relations between Israel and Cyprus and those between Cyprus and Palestine. "On the contrary, we support and need countries with good relations with Israel to get involved in the current impasse to press Israel to halt its colonial activities and end its occupation in the Palestinian Territories," he said.
Meanwhile, peaceful demonstrations across the cities of the West Bank and Gaza Strip called for an immediate end to internal Palestinian divisions.
The demonstrations were organised under the Palestinian flag without any flags of the various Palestinian political parties, with slogans calling for Palestinian unity.
The 15 March Youth Group organised the demonstrations all over the Palestinian Territories and the diaspora to keep up pressure on Fatah and Hamas to end their four-year-old split.
A group of youth activists who have been on a hunger strike since Monday night at Al Manarah roundabout in Ramallah, have announced that they will stay there until Palestinian unity is achieved.
The Palestinian security apparatus received strict instructions from Abbas to provide the demonstrators with necessary protection.
