Abbas may be around for a while yet
It seems that the vote set for January is likely to be postponed, buying him more time
Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas knows that he is in an impossible position.
His party, Fatah, has based its whole political strategy on committing to a negotiated peace with Israel, and has repeatedly said that it will not return to the armed struggle, which is not matched by any such commitment from the Israelis.
Ever since he came to office, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dodged any efforts to bring him to negotiate, and refused endless US requests to freeze building in the colonies throughout the Occupied Territories, including East Jerusalem.
The Israeli refusal to show the slightest interest in peace has seriously weakened the political position of Fatah with the Palestinian people. As a result their more radical rivals, Hamas, have gained substantial credibility since they have not hitched their political future to the whims of an Israeli government.
So when Abbas announced that he had "no desire" to stand for office again, it was either a negotiating tactic designed to wake up his supporters in Washington, or a genuine statement of frustration with the impasse that Netanyahu has successfully created.
If it was a tactic it must have been aimed at US President Barack Obama, whose administration has failed to restrain Netanyahu but who spoke of a vision of a Palestinian state when he came to power. It would be a success if Abbas can force the peace process forward and trigger a confrontation between Obama and Netanyahu, since the American vision is not far away from the Palestinan vision.
In fact, Abbas will be around for some time to come, as the planned elections may not take place in January. The Central Election Commission has announced that the polls cannot go ahead if Palestinians are not allowed to vote both in the West Bank and Gaza.
