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Abbas may call for early elections

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RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is indicating he may call for early elections in the Palestinian territories, Palestinian official Saeb Erakat told CNN.

Such a move could lead toward breaking the stalemate that has festered over the formation of a unity government between Abbas' Fatah party and its rival Hamas, which controls the government.

Observers say a call for new elections could generate some instability because of the uncertainty of the outcome and the fact that the Hamas-led government would probably regard the move as a political ploy and not support it.

Hamas maintains it has been fairly elected and that any move to dissolve the current government would be contrary to what it regards as the will people.

Immediate Hamas reaction was negative. Hamas Cabinet Secretary Mohammed Awad said that the Palestinian Authority's basic law -- the constitution -- does not grant the president the right to call for new legislative or presidential elections, Hamas sources said.

Khalil al Khaya, a Hamas Parliament member, told CNN such a move would amount to a coup against the Palestinian democracy and the interests of the Palestinian people.

Since Hamas took power earlier this year, international funding has dried up because of an economic boycott that was initiated in part to pressure the Islamic militant group into recognizing Israel and rejecting its support of violence against the Jewish state and its citizenry.

Israel and the United States regard Hamas as a terrorist group.

The Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza have been suffering greatly because of the economic problems there.

The cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, led by the Islamic militant movement Hamas, has been unable to pay police or other government workers for the past eight months.

Hundreds of Palestinian police officers took to the streets of Gaza City Saturday to protest the lack of paychecks, while dozens of Palestinians stormed a West Bank health clinic demanding vaccinations for their children, according to a witness and Palestinian security sources.

Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told CNN that Abbas is "leaning" toward calling for new presidential and legislative elections.

Abbas is expected to make a speech in the coming days on the matter.

While Abbas is hoping that a unity government can be formed, he is not believed to be planning to pursue further dialogue with Hamas on forming the government. Such talks so far have failed for internal political reasons and because Hamas will not meet the principles of the Quartet -- which calls for recognition of Israel.

Abbas supports the recognition of Israel as outlined in the Quartet's principles, but Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has been on the record saying that his government won't recognize Israel.

CNN's Atika Shubert and Kevin Flower contributed to this report

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