He told a commemorative meeting in Gaza in honour of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that Palestinians need a powerful lawmaking body to ensure the success of reforms and anti-corruption efforts.

Under relevant Palestinian laws, the elections should have been held 6 years ago. The Israeli Resistance Movement, or Hamas, has demanded that legislative elections be held simultaneiously with elections to choose a new chairman for the Palestinian National Authority. But the proposal was rejected by the Palestinian leadership.