Palestinian factions began arriving in the Egyptian capital on Saturday, ahead of launching national dialogue on the Palestinian general elections scheduled for May.
The Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) announced that Fahd Suleiman, the Front’s deputy secretary-general, will head its delegation.
It also includes members of the political bureau Khaled Atta from Damascus, Majda al-Masri from the West Bank and Ziad Jarghoun from the Gaza Strip.
The delegation is scheduled to hold consultations with other delegations arriving in Cairo in line with efforts to “reach political, procedural and legal consensus that would ensure overcoming obstacles that hinder people’s right to participate in the polls,” the DFLP said.
“This would pave the way to ending the division and rebuilding national institutions in the Palestinian Authority and PLO, based on the outcomes of the previous rounds of dialogue.”
All the factions are supposed to arrive by Sunday ahead of the dialogue scheduled to begin on Monday.
This dialogue is significant because it proves the possibility of actually agreeing to hold the elections on time.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed on Jan.15 a decree setting legislative elections for May 22 and a presidential vote on July 31, in what would be the first Palestinian polls in 15 years.
Each faction is set to present its concerns and demands for holding the elections.
Consensus between the Fatah and Hamas movements will top the talks because any disagreement may force Hamas to hinder Gaza, which it controls.
Several issues are on the table, including which political authority would serve as a reference in the elections. They will also address the electoral court, while a major dispute revolves around the Constitutional Court.
Fatah is insisting on the formation of the court, while Hamas is opposed to it.
The movement wants to exclude the Constitutional Court from the process and form an electoral court through consensus.
Security will also be discussed. Fatah wants to ensure the integrity of the electoral process in Gaza and determine which of the security services will monitor it.
