President Mahmoud Abbas has issued a decree postponing the Palestinian Legislative Council elections – originally set for November – and merging them with the presidential vote on September 11, 2027, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa on Saturday.
Under the decree, the legislative vote, previously scheduled for November 28, will be delayed by nearly a year. The presidential election had previously been expected in early 2027. It would be the first Palestinian legislative election in nearly two decades, since 2006.
The decision came after a Saturday morning meeting of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), headed by Abbas, to discuss postponing the vote. In a statement after the meeting, the committee said conditions in occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were not conducive to holding elections.
Wafa cited reasons including Israel barring election materials and international observers from entering Gaza; military raids, settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank; Israel's withholding of Palestinian tax revenues; and restrictions on candidates and international observers. Slow progress on Gaza reconstruction and the deployment of an international stabilization force were also cited as factors behind the decision.
The postponement spares the veteran Palestinian leadership a challenge at the ballot box, while raising the risk that the Palestinian Authority (PA) will lose credibility in the eyes of its people and donor countries.
On Friday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Abbas of "deceiving the international community" by planning to cancel the promised election. Earlier, a source told AFP that Palestinian factions, including Abbas's Fatah movement, had agreed to hold a "national dialogue" before the legislative elections and wanted the vote postponed.
The last Palestinian legislative election was held in 2006, when Hamas defeated Fatah – the force dominating the PA. The ensuing split led to factional conflict and Hamas's takeover of Gaza.
Abbas, 90, was elected in the last presidential vote in 2005. His term was due to end in 2009, but he has since ruled by decree. In June, he signed a decree setting the presidential election for early 2027.
