EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana (L) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrive for a joint news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah July 18, 2007. [Reuters]

Hamas, which routed Abbas's Fatah forces and seized control of the Gaza Strip last month, rejected the bid to move up a legislative poll, which the Islamist group won the last time it was held in January 2006.

Abbas told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah who asked whether he would call a new election: "This is part of the powers of the presidency, to issue decrees that will have the power of law. We will issue these decrees soon."

He did not say when the election would be held. A senior aide to Abbas said the decrees may be issued after a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization's main legislative body later on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank.

Legal experts are divided as to whether Abbas may call a new election before the next vote scheduled for 2010.

Some say these decrees would be unconstitutional, while others cite a basic law that says Abbas is entitled to issue such orders so long as the Palestinian parliament is not in session.

The legislature has been unable to muster a quorum of 67 members in the past two weeks, as about half of Hamas's 74 lawmakers have been jailed by Israel and other lawmakers have boycotted sessions.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Abbas could not call an election without the agreement of all sides, including Hamas.

"He will not be able to hold any election on the ground without a national agreement," Abu Zuhri told Reuters in Gaza. "These decrees, if issued, will only be nothing but ink on paper."

Western diplomats say it would be difficult, if not impossible, to organize a new vote without the approval of Hamas whose forces are seen as strong enough to prevent elections from being held in Gaza.

Abbas has largely ruled by decree since he dismissed a Hamas-led unity cabinet last month and appointed a Western-backed government in the West Bank led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, after Gaza's seizure by Hamas last month.

His regime received a new boost when U.S. President George W. Bush announced plans on Monday to convene a Middle East peace conference in the fall in a bid to move forward on long-stalled efforts to establish a Palestinian state.

Israel has also moved to shore up Abbas by agreeing to release 256 prisoners, a move expected on Friday. Some 85 percent of inmates being freed belong to Abbas's Fatah movement.