The legislative body of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) will extend Mahmoud Abbas' term as Palestinian president, a Fatah official said Tuesday.
The decision will be announced when the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) convenes on Dec. 15, said Mohammed Dahlan, a member of Fatah central committee.
Abbas has called for presidential and parliamentary elections in January 2010, but Hamas, which controls Gaza, refused the call and banned the Central Elections Committee (CEC) from working in the Gaza Strip.
On Thursday, the CEC announced that it is unable to organize the voting."As the elections are likely not to be held as scheduled, the PCC will extend Abbas' term in order to avoid legal and constitutional vacuum," Dahlan told Xinhua.
"Most of the Palestinian leadership members suggest the extension of Abbas' term," Dahlan said. Dahlan explained that only the PCC can decide this issue.
Earlier, Salim al-Zanoun, speaker of the PLO's parliament, said the PCC was called to convene next month to make decisions after a deadlock in internal Palestinian situation and the failure of peace negotiations with Israel.
Hamas, which took Gaza by force in 2007, rejected an Egyptian proposal to reconcile with Fatah and restore political unity to the Palestinian territories.
The negotiations between the West Bank-based Palestinian National Authority's (PNA) and Israel have been stalled for nearly a year due to the continuation of Jewish settlement expansions in the occupied territories.