The PLO leadership in Ramallah on Saturday announced plans to hold elections by September, running into immediate opposition from its Hamas rivals.
The Palestinian Authority will "start preparations for presidential and parliamentary elections in the coming months ... no later than September," PLO chief Yasser Abed Rabbo said.
In a statement, he said the decision was taken to "satisfy the will of the Palestinians."
Abed Rabbo also called for all parties to put aside political disputes and participate in the election. Differences on security and representation can be resolved in the new parliament, he said.
Hamas immediately rejected the plan, saying it would not participate.
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told Ma’an that “these elections are illegal because they are not determined by any law, and Hamas will not legitimize them."
Barhoum said Mahmoud Abbas and his premier Salam Fayyad lacked the legitimacy to declare a vote.
The PLO, which groups the main nationalist movements but not Hamas, has since 2004 been led by Abbas, whose mandate expired in 2009 but was extended until new polls.
"Elections should be held in accordance with Palestinian national consensus, the result of a reconciliation agreement, not as a step taken by the one party which controls every Palestinian issue," Barhoum said.
He added that if the PA takes such a step, it could suffer the fate of Egypt and Tunisia.
The Ramallah-based government's call for polls comes amid stalemate in Israeli-Palestinian talks and the political upheaval in Egypt, a key player in peace efforts.
Egypt under president Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted Friday, played a key role in so far fruitless efforts to reconcile the mainstream Fatah party of Abbas and its rival Hamas.
Abbas' government last week also called local elections for July 9, the first Palestinian vote since 2006. But the Hamas rulers of Gaza vowed to ignore that decision, limiting the poll to the West Bank.
The opposition already killed a plan by the Palestinian Authority to hold a general election in January 2010.
Hamas scored a surprise triumph in a legislative election in 2006 and control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, ousting Fatah in a week of deadly street-fighting.