ABBAS SLAMS HAMAS IN OPENING OF PLO CENTRAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001499 SIPDIS SIPDIS OPS PLEASE PASS TO THE SECRETARY'S PARTY; NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2017 TAGS: KWBG PGOV IS PREL PTER SUBJECT: ABBAS SLAMS HAMAS IN OPENING OF PLO CENTRAL COUNCIL SESSION REF: A. JERUSALEM 1295 ¶B. JERUSALEM 1297 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. In a strongly-worded speech to the PLO Central Council (PLO CC) on July 18, President Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) rejected dialogue with "Hamas mutineers" and called for Hamas leaders to be punished for taking over PA institutions in Gaza. He also called for early presidential and PLC elections. The PLO CC speaker scheduled discussion on changes to the electoral system. The PLO CC is also expected to endorse President Abbas' emergency decrees and PM Salam Fayyad's government. Hamas spokesmen attacked President Abbas' comments, called the PLO CC an unrepresentative and illegitimate institution, and rejected calls for early elections. The meeting will continue on July ¶19. End summary. Abbas Calls for Hamas to "Be Punished," Hamas Responsible for Gaza Suffering -------------- ¶2. (SBU) President Abbas rejected dialogue with Hamas "mutineers" and called for Hamas leaders to be punished in his opening remarks to the PLO Central Council (PLO CC) in Ramallah on July 18. Abbas said Hamas is responsible for the closure of the Rafah crossing and the resulting suffering, and Hamas leaders "endeavor every day to justify their criminal conduct in the name of religion, while they plan to attain unworthy, contemptible goals." He also called for early presidential and PLC elections, "without waiting for directives from Hamas leaders living abroad or those in Palestine." (Note: The Central Council is a 115-member, mid-level PLO decision-making body, filling the niche between the 14-member Executive Committee (ExComm),which meets regularly, and the much larger Palestinian National Council (PNC),which has not met since December 1998. End note). PLO CC to Take Up New Constitution, Elections Reforms -------------- ¶3. (SBU) PLO CC/PNC Speaker Salim Zanun called for the body's legal committee to draft "a constitution for the state of Palestine that would supersede the PA Basic Law," revisiting draft versions drawn up in 2003. In conjunction with this project, PLO CC members told the press that they expect to discuss replacing the current electoral system (mixed constituency and proportional) with 100-percent proportional representation. The PLO CC is also expected to endorse President Abbas' decrees and PM Salam Fayyad's government July 19, and issue statements critical of Hamas. Hamas Criticizes Abbas Remarks -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Hamas spokesmen criticized President Abbas' comments, calling them abusive and inappropriate, and said early elections would be illegal and impossible without a national agreement. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the PLO CC is an "illegitimate institution" that does not represent all Palestinian factions, and "Hamas is facing a conspiracy aimed at targeting Hamas and its leaders, in which the Palestinian Authority is a partner." He added that "Hamas considers very seriously the President's declarations about the need to punish Hamas, and his words that (Hamas') leaders have dug their graves by their own hands." Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) President Abbas and the PLO CC are aware that early elections are not currently feasible. The discussion of early elections is intended to blunt charges that Abbas is governing undemocratically and to present Hamas as the obstacle to the democratic process. The vehemence of Abbas' remarks is a clear indication that he does not plan to resume dialogue with Hamas. The effort to amend the elections law to make it more favorable to Fatah (through 100-percent proportional representation) will make it even less likely that Hamas will agree to elections in the near term. WALLES