New decree pushes back legislative elections to 11 September 2027, previously scheduled for 28 November this year
By
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has postponed legislative elections scheduled for next month until September 2027. These elections had been previously scheduled for 28 November this year, while a presidential vote had been expected in early 2027.
Ninety-year-old Abbas won the last Palestinian presidential election in 2005. His term should have expired four years later, but he has ruled ever since by decree.
The Palestinian presidency blamed ‘security, logistical and on-the-ground obstacles to establishing the conditions necessary for elections’. In addition, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee – led by Abbas – said in a statement that conditions in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem were not suitable to hold elections.
Related reads…
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has accused Abbas of ‘fooling the international community by cancelling once again promised elections.’
On X, he said that Abbas’ ‘attempt to drag Israel into this, falsely claiming that Israel imposed obstacles to holding elections, is yet another ridiculous lie designed to evade responsibility and accountability.’
Head of splinter group from Abbas’ Fatah party Mohammed Dahaln said: ‘Abbas and the circle of self-serving beneficiaries around him have turned the institutions of the Palestinian Authority into a private fiefdom.’
Holding elections is part of the reforms the international community, such as the EU, has demanded of the Palestinian Authority.
In September, the EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica said she ‘welcomed the decision to hold elections before the end of the year.’
‘Ensuring a fair, credible and inclusive electoral process is essential to strengthening Palestinian institutions,’ Šuica continued.
The last legislative elections in Palestine took place in 2006, when Hamas defeated Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority. Since then, Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip, creating territorial divide between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza.
