RAMALLAH, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Presidency said Monday that the official gazette of legal rulings has published the Palestinian Constitutional Court's decision to dissolve the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with head of the Central Elections Committee Hanna Nasser at the Palestinian Authority's presidential headquarters in Ramallah city, said a report by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
The two officials "discussed the implementation and enactment of the Constitutional Court ruling to dissolve the legislative council and hold parliamentary elections, after it has been published in the official gazette," the report said.
Abbas announced on Saturday night that the Constitutional Court decided to dissolve the Palestinian Authority parliament, also known as the PLC, as he chaired a joint meeting for Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee and his Fatah Party's Central Committee.
He said that the constitutional court has also called for holding new parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories within six months.
The director of the Palestinian Central Elections Committee Hisham Kuheil told the official Palestinian radio station (Voice of Palestine) on Monday that the upcoming elections face internal challenges, including the enabling of the committee teams to work in all of the Palestinian territories, which requires an internal agreement on election measures and external challenges related to the Israeli occupation and the freedom of movement of the committee teams.
Islamic Hamas movement won the last parliamentary elections held in 2006 and ousted Fatah, which dominated the PLC since it was established in 1996. Hamas opposed the Palestinian constitutional court's decision and said that the decision will deepen the internal Palestinian division.
Yehya Musa, a senior Hamas leader and member of the PLC, said in a press statement that the decision to dissolve the PLC does not have any values, while Deputy Speaker of the PLC Ahmad Bahar had earlier stated that any decision to dissolve the PLO "would be illegal and not useful."
"The decision of Abbas deepens the internal Palestinian division and destroys the Palestinian political system," said Musa, adding that "the legislative council will continue to work and convene as usual, regardless of Abbas decisions."
The PLC has been inoperative since the beginning of the internal Palestinian split between Hamas and Fatah in 2007 after Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip and routed Abbas security forces.
Hamas, which has a majority in the PLC, had been unilaterally holding regular PLC sessions in the Gaza Strip amid the absence of Fatah Party members and other minor factions and political groups.
The last Palestinian parliamentary elections were held in January 2006, where Hamas movement won the majority of the 132 seats. In 2005, Abbas won the last the presidential elections held in Palestine.
