RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Authority, facing the specter of a Hamas victory, has postponed legislative elections.

No new date was set. The elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council had been set for July 17.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said the PLC elections were postponed to enable what he termed consultations. He said a new date for elections would be announced.

"The proposed reforms to the voting law have not been decided yet, and the time is getting shorter," Abbas said from Amman, where he is recovering from a heart procedure. "As a result, we have to put off the parliamentary elections to give time to complete the legal procedures and consultation."

Hamas has protested the PA decision. The Islamic opposition movement said the cancellation of the July election violated agreements reached by Palestinian factions in Cairo in March 2005.

"Hamas rejects the decision to call off the election as it was taken individually without consultation with Hamas," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

PA officials said Abbas had been under increasing pressure from the ruling Fatah movement to postpone or cancel PLC elections. They said Fatah legislators and their supporters, alarmed by Hamas gains in municipal elections in May, feared that they would lose their seats.

"There was concern in Fatah about our political program and the entire Palestinian struggle in effect for the past 30 years," PA Information Minister Nabil Shaath said.

In May, the PA Central Election Committee, citing logistical and legal obstacles, said elections could not be held on July 17. The committee said it would require until at least September 2005 to revise the current election law.

The proposed legislation — opposed by Hamas — stipulates two electoral systems. Two-thirds of the PLC would be elected under a constituency system. The remainder would be elected under proportional representation.