¡¡  BEIJING, Dec. 28 -- The interim chairman of the Palestinian National Authority Rouhi Fattouh has announced that legislative elections will be held inside the Palestinian lands on May 17 next year.

    He told a commemorative meeting in Gaza in honour of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that Palestinians need a powerful lawmaking body to ensure the success of reforms and anti-corruption efforts.

    Under relevant Palestinian laws, the elections should have been held 6 years ago. The Israeli Resistance Movement, or Hamas, has demanded that legislative elections be held simultaneiously with elections to choose a new chairman for the Palestinian National Authority. But the proposal was rejected by the Palestinian leadership.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)