A Hamas spokesman confirmed what everyone already knew - that planned elections for a unified Palestinian Arab government are not going to happen anytime soon.
Salah Bardawil, member of Hamas' political bureau,
said that he does not see any elections happening this year, and he blamed Fatah for that. He claims that only a small percentage of the agreements between Hamas and Fatah in the Doha Declaration were implemented, that West Bank voters are in fear of voting according to their true feelings or to campaign for any non-Fatah candidate, that American and Israeli pressure are causing Fatah to drag its feet, that if Israel doesn't allow Jerusalem Arabs to vote than the voting cannot go forward, and a host of other excuses.
Absent from his list was the fact that Hamas has not yet allowed the elections office in Gaza to start doing its work in determining who can vote.
The reality is that neither Hamas nor Fatah are willing to take the chance that they will lose the power they have over Gaza and the West Bank, respectively. The entire idea of unity was an attempt to forestall popular uprisings against both parties, so they cooperated just enough to calm down their people.
Amazingly, so far their cynical fake cooperation has managed to do exactly that.
