Factions of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) failed to agree on entering municipal elections in the West Bank under a unified list, representatives said on Tuesday.
"Forming a unified list is far away and difficult now despite the talks," Amin Maqboul, a member of Fatah Revolutionary Council, told Xinhua.
President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, the main faction in the organization, held several dialogues with the leftist groups of the PLO over the past two months to unite in the elections that would be held in July.
Islamic Hamas movement, Fatah's bitter rival that controls Gaza, rejected the elections and banned them in the coastal enclave, however, the Palestinian government in Ramallah decided to go ahead and hold the polls without Gaza.
Maqboul said the reason behind his movement's attempt to unite with the other factions is that they share a common political program.
He noted that some factions want to run in the elections in alliance with one or two groups rather than merge themselves in one list representing the PLO.
As a result, Fatah is likely to offer its candidates in a separate list, said Maqboul, adding "we will depend on ourselves."
Meanwhile, Bassam al-Salhi of the People Party said his group refused to be represented in a list carrying the PLO's name to " maintain the plurality according to the nature of the democratic system."
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