Abbas will not run for president

And here is, after Saeb Erakat's small bombshell that the PA may have to abandon the two state solution because of the expansion of the settlements, another - bigger - bombshell. Mahmoud Abbas on thursday announced in a televised speech that he is not going to take part in the January 2010 elections for which he himself recently called.
  
"I informed the central Fatah committee that I am not interested in presenting my candidacy for the upcoming presidency, and this decision is not meant for tactical purposes or manipulation," he said. 

So anothter moment of truth. The question is now who is going to replace Abbas. Fayyad, the prime minister? He is not a member of Fatah, so it's unlikely. But then it's unlikely that there will be elections anyhow. Hamas is not going to take part and not going to allow them being hold in the Gaza Strip. And that would make them rather useless. It was a strange decision after all to call fo elections before the Egyptian brokered reconciliation was a fact. It's still a question mark who wrecked the process and why, as the agreement was in fact finalized and okayed by both, before Hamas asked for a dealy of days in order to get some clarifications and Abbas pushed this election date through, in spite of the fact that the agreement stipoulated elections in June or July.
Anyhow, for the moment it seems that the Palestinians aren't 'a partner for peace' anymore and this  time for real. Not for what is called  'the peace process' that is.