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RAMALLAH/GAZA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Monday's decision of the Palestinian Supreme Court to hold the municipal elections in the West Bank only and not in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has made it unlikely to expect the election soon.
Following the court's decision, the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC) suggests Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to postpone the local elections for six months.
One of the Palestinian judges read the ruling at the Ramallah-based Supreme Court on Monday and the court decided to hold the elections in the West Bank and call off holding it in the West Bank.
The ruling declared right of CEC to set a new date for the elections in the West Bank next month, the original date was set on Oct. 8.
Jehad Mashaqi, director general in the Palestinian ministry of local affairs, told reporters that the decision had based on 25 justifications and is in accordance with the law.
One of the major reasons that obstructed holding the local elections in the West Bank and Gaza is that east Jerusalem was excluded.
The other reason was that Hamas movement, which has been ruling Gaza since 2007, didn't get the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to recognize its laws, regulations and judiciary system.
CEC, which called for an emergency meeting in both West Bank and Gaza, claimed its respects to the supreme court's ruling, but also raised concerns that it would deepen internal division between the West Bank and Gaza.
On Sept. 8, the court ruled not to hold the local elections on its agreed upon date Oct. 8, after a Palestinian lawyer from the West Bank appealed to the court to annul it due to a series of complications, besides reasons that the poll excluded east Jerusalem, and judiciary system in Gaza is ruled by Hamas.
Islamic Hamas movement on Monday slammed the ruling, and Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said in an emailed press statement that the ruling is "totally rejected."
"The ruling is political and aims at empowering and rooting the internal division between the two Palestinian territories," said Abu Zuhri, adding that "this is a clear discrimination between Gaza and West Bank."
The PNA cabinet decided in June to hold the municipal elections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Oct. 8.
Later on Monday, Hamas called for an emergency meeting of the representatives of the minor Palestinian factions to discuss the consequences of the ruling.
Local elections were scheduled to be held in 391 municipal councils in the West Bank and 25 councils in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinians were hoping that the municipal elections would be an introduction to end the internal Palestinian split and make it possible to hold the presidential and legislative elections soon.
