Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will issue a presidential decree later Saturday to postpone the legislative elections due on July 17, local press reported.

Al-Ayyam daily quoted Palestinian sources as saying that Abbas has decided to postpone the elections to allow himself more time to resolve a dispute with the parliament over a new electoral law.

The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) approved the new electoral law in mid-May, but Abbas has yet to endorse the bill.

Abbas wants the 132 parliamentary seats to be elected half through proportional representation and half through constituencies.

However, according to the bill passed by the PLC, two thirds of the seats will be elected through proportional representation and one third allocated to constituencies.

The ruling Fatah movement led by Abbas is facing a major challenge in the parliamentary elections from the Islamic Hamas movement, whose surging street popularity has rendered it a strong showing in the local elections.

Hamas strongly opposes the postponement of the elections.

Palestinian election committee indicated that it need two months to prepare for the elections after Abbas approved the bill.

Source: Xinhua