Ashrawi: Delay in Forming New Government Will Harm PA s Political System

Ramallah, February 26 (QNA) - The PLO Executive Committee member and Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi Sunday said postponing the formation of the new Palestinian government will harm the Palestinian political system, pointing out that its formation will take longer than expected. In an interview with Voice of Palestine radio, Ashrawi stressed the need to implement the national reconciliation agreement and to conduct free and fair elections in order to restore and strengthen the political system based on democracy. Meanwhile, Ashrawi said that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s request to the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem not to announce the bids of the construction of new housing units, on the eve of his visit to the United States, falls within the framework of media propaganda and does not mean that he decided to halt settlement activities. She also warned that Israel's closure of the border crossings of the Gaza Strip was meant to leave the closed area with one option and that is to be run by Egypt. An Israeli newspaper has recently disclosed that Israel planned to annex 60 percent of the West Bank land and to allow for the return of Egypt's administration to the Gaza Strip. (QNA)