Fatah agrees to election delay

Can't say I'm surprised by this news: Fatah has agreed to an Egyptian proposal to delay Palestinian parliamentary and presidential elections (currently scheduled for Jan. 25). The proposal would require elections "in the first half of 2010," so the delay won't be more than five months.

Hamas now has to decide whether to accept the proposal as well. Hamas leaders say they'll announce a final decision after Eid al-Fitr next week.

January has always been an overly optimistic goal, because of the unresolved issues between Hamas and Fatah. The question now is whether they can use the delay to make any progress on reconciliation. I'm of the mind that the election itself will not provide reconciliation -- that the parties need to work out (some) of their problems in advance.