Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was seriously considering not to run in the upcoming presidential election he called for in January 2010, a Palestinian official said Thursday, Xinhua reported.
However, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) "did not accept this," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the PLO's executive committee.
In a press conference in Ramallah, Abed Rabbo said that Abbas was studying this option after stalled peace talks with Israel reached a deadlock.
The failure of Egyptian efforts to broker a reconciliation between Abbas' Fatah party and Hamas has also motivated the president to consider not to join the elections, Abed Rabbo explained.
The members of the PLO's decision-making committee "have unanimously expressed their rejection for Abbas' tendency not to stand in the elections and they have reiterated that Abbas is the only candidate not only for Fatah, but for all the Palestinian people," Abed Rabbo said.
Abbas has called for the elections to be held on Jan. 24, 2010, after Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, refused an Egyptian offer to restore Palestinian unity. Abbas has been based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since his forces lost control of Gaza in 2007.
Abbas seriously thinking not to run in next election
