Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said presidential and legislative elections scheduled for January would be postponed, confirming that he has accepted advice not to hold the vote, Reuters reported.
Abbas, speaking to BBC Arabic, said the Palestinian leadership would take measures to avoid a constitutional vacuum when the term of the current legislature and his term as president expire on Jan. 25.
Abbas also said he would not seek a second term as president. He had previously said he had no desire to run in the elections, which had been scheduled for Jan. 24.
Abbas reiterated his demand for a halt to Israeli settlement before any resumption of talks. "I said that the Israeli government does not want peace. The American government has not done enough for the sake of peace," he added.
The interview was broadcast on Thursday.
"Now for a realistic reason, due to certain conditions -- because of the rejection of Hamas and its threat to prevent (voting) by force, naturally they will be delayed, or the time of the elections will come later," Abbas said.
"It is better for us that Hamas accepts the holding of elections. But if that doesn't happen, then the Palestinian leadership must take measures," he said.
"There must be elections but I don't say elections in the West Bank without Gaza, for example, or without Jerusalem," he said, in reference to parts of the city occupied by Israel in 1967. Abbas aims to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital.
