Abbas taking a bold step in pushing early elections

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has correctly concluded that the only way to end the power struggle between his Fatah party and the Islamic group Hamas, which controls parliament and the Palestinian cabinet, is to let the people have a voice.
While the constitutionality of holding elections so soon after voters went to the polls in January is already generating intense debate inside the Palestinian territories and throughout the Middle East, Abbas' move must be viewed in the context of the violence that has gripped the Gaza Strip and other areas.
In a long speech Sunday in which he announced plans to push ahead with new presidential and parliamentary elections, the president made it clear that the current political situation is untenable. He painted a bleak picture of what has occurred since the January elections, contending that the economy has suffered and people's lives have been disrupted.
Abbas, who was elected president in 2005, offered this explanation for his push for early elections:
"We want to examine the will of the people. Do they still trust those they have chosen?"
Gunbattles
It's a question that only the Palestinian people can answer. But given the fierce gunbattles that have erupted between Fatah and Hamas forces -- the words civil war were used Tuesday after much of Gaza was brought to a standstill -- talk of elections seems premature. People will never go to the polls if they feel threatened in any way.
The events of the last several days since Abbas announced his plans, along with the violence of the last several months, lead to the conclusion that a ceasefire will not occur without the involvement of a third party.
Jordan's King Abdullah II has offered to host talks between the Palestinian president and the leader of Hamas, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. While both leaders urged an end to the infighting, Haniyeh made it clear that Hamas considers Abbas' call for elections a coup and said his party would boycott a new vote.
The situation is spinning out of the control and before the violence on the streets takes on a life of its own, the two sides must come to the table and reach agreement on a ceasefire.
King Abdullah's offer is timely and important.
The United States, which supports Abbas, should encourage Fatah's participation in the peace talks because a failure to stop the violence in the Palestinian territories could cause the unrest to spread throughout the region.
As President Abbas noted Sunday, the need for Palestinian unity has never been more evident. But the violence on the streets and the failure of the two sides to reach agreement on even the basic issues of governance suggest that attaining the goal will require a commitment that neither side has thus far shown a willingness to make.