Duwaik calls for Palestinian parliament

Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Assembly Aziz Duwaik has called on the body to hold a special session to push through reconciliation measures. Duwaik hoped the session could accelerate the reconciliation process and build confidence between factions. Duwaik, speaking to the Hamas daily Falastin, stressed the urgency of holding a parliamentary session “to take positive steps” towards a national unity government, bringing together Fatah and Hamas for the first time since 2005. Hamas approved the call but Fatah refused it. Prominent Hamas member Salah el-Bardaweel said that the Palestinian Authority should reactivate the suspended Palestinian Legislative Council following “a coup on its legitimacy” after Hamas achieved a parliamentary majority in 2006. Leading Fatah official Nabil Shaath meanwhile claimed national reconciliation agreements had previously stipulated that the legislative body would resume sessions after the formation of a national unity government. “Such proposals could harm reconciliation,” he said. Fatah and Hamas representatives will meet again in Cairo on February 8.