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New candidate for Palestinian polls

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The Palestinian al-Shaab Party's Secretary General Bassam Salihi Wednesday announced he will be competing for the post of Palestinian Authority president.

Salihi made the announcement from the party's headquarters in Ramallah stressing that his political program "calls for an all-out restructuring and not mere introduction of reforms in order to boost democracy."

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He also rejected Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for unilateral withdrawal from Gaza as well as the Road Map for peace in the Middle East.

In the meantime, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) declared that it will have no candidate for the elections to replace Yasser Arafat who died in a Paris hospital last month.

PFLP official Jamil Majdalawi said the group "leaves the door open for supporting any candidate depending on his national political program."

The two announcements came at a time PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas called on the various Palestinian factions to take active part in the elections.

Abbas, who is Fatah's candidate for the top post, told a press conference in Ramallah "we want all people, parties and political forces and groups to have n effective role in those elections."

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Eleven candidates have so far announced their intention to participate in the race, at a time Hamas said it will boycott the elections.

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