Top PLO body urges Abbas to call early elections
RAMALLAH, West Bank, June 21 (Reuters) - A key body of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) urged President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday to call early national elections, a move that would deepen his split with Hamas Islamists.
Abbas, who dissolved the Hamas-led government after the Islamist group took over Gaza last week, convened the PLO's key Palestine Central Council on Wednesday to rally support for a new emergency cabinet that has been welcomed in the West.
PCC member Ahmad Majdalani told Reuters that the 115-person body agreed in its closed-door session that Abbas, who heads the PLO, should "secure appropriate conditions to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in the nearest possible time".
Palestinians vote separately for president -- who can rule by decree -- and the 133-seat Palestinian Legislative Council. The next elections are scheduled for 2009 and 2010 respectively.
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