Hamas official: National unity govt mandate expires Dec. 2
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouq on Wednesday said that the mandate of the Palestinian government of national unity between the PLO and Hamas will expire on Dec. 2.
The announcement comes six months after the government was first established with the understanding that national elections would take place soon after to replace the technocratic leadership that an agreement earlier this year put into place.
An Israeli campaign to undermine the agreement, which came after seven years of division, has however thwarted hopes for new elections, as June saw the largest military offensive in the West Bank since the Second Intifada and July-August saw one of the bloodiest assaults on Gaza in history.
The announcement of the apparently pending end of the mandate was made by Hamas leader Abu Marzouq in a letter sent to Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader Qais Abu Laila that Abu Marzouq posted on his Facebook.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=742923
(Reported in Maan so I advise caution when reading this article, cross reference is best )