Palestinian leaders pushed on Sunday for the first elections in over six years, despite doubts raised by President Yasser Arafat over the timing of a vote deemed vital to reform and peace with Israel. After a shattering Israeli offensive last month, Arafat faces internal pressure to hold new elections, purge corruption and improve efficiency in his government, which runs parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip under peace deals. Local Government Minister Saeb Erekat said he had begun preparations for municipal elections on a date to be decided by the time voting registers could be drawn up. Erekat said it was vital to create a democratic separation of powers in the Palestinian Authority. One dead in Netanya suicide bombing JERUSALEM: At least one person, apart from a suicide bomber was killed and 25 others wounded on Sunday when a suspected suicide bomber blew himself up in a busy market in the central Israeli city of Netanya, medics and the city’s Mayor Miriam Feierberg said. ‘‘There is a corpse in the field and we are checking whether it is an Israeli citizen or the terrorist,’’ a spokesman for the Magen David Adom ambulance service said. Another body was seen lying in the refuse between the market stalls. Witnesses told Army Radio a man they believed to have been the bomber wore an Israeli Army uniform. At least 20 casualties were reported, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said. ‘‘There was a sharp explosion,’’ a witness said. (Reuters) ‘‘We need to bring about a system of accountability and transparency to which each one of us will be subject, including President Arafat, because President Arafat or Saeb Erekat or any of the members.(will) run the affairs for a certain period of time,’’ Erekat said. Arafat was due to meet the Central Election Committee on Sunday for the first time since the run-up to the last voting in 1996. But he bowed out due to a surprise visit by Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu al-Ragheb. The committee planned to meet later in the day to discuss technical aspects of presidential and general elections that Palestinian lawmakers want by early 2003 as part of a broad programme of reform. Arafat promised voting in a speech to the Palestinian Assembly on Wednesday, but seemed to backtrack on Friday when he said that a ballot could be held ‘‘as soon as we finish this occupation (of) our land’’. Aides later clarified that he was referring to an Israeli pullback to positions held in the West Bank and Gaza before a Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000. Palestinian leaders have said elections would be difficult if not impossible under such conditions. Arafat’s cabinet had offered to resign last week to spur the reforms. ‘‘All the ministers offered to quit but Arafat rejected their resignations,’’ Erekat said. Meanwhile, an explosion rocked a market in the central Israeli city of Netanya on Sunday, causing at least 10 casualties, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said. Sources said a suicide bomber had blown himself up in the market. ‘‘There was a sharp explosion,’’ a witness said.
