President Mahmoud Abbas postponed what would have been the first Palestinian elections in nearly 20 years, issuing a decree Friday to delay voting for the Palestinian Legislative Council for another year.
Rather than taking place as planned next month, the decree pushes the elections back to September 11, 2027, according to WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency. The presidential elections, which have not taken place in more than two decades, are scheduled for the same day.
The postponement leaves entrenched Palestinian leaders unchallenged and threatens to further erode the Palestinian Authority’s credibility with ordinary Palestinians and the donor countries that fund it.
The internationally-backed body is dominated by Abbas’s party, Fatah, and has administered semi-autonomous parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank since agreements reached in the 1990s. It has become increasingly unpopular throughout Abbas’s presidency. Many Palestinians view him as corrupt and criticize his security cooperation with Israel.
The decree came after a committee of senior Palestinian officials met Saturday morning to discuss postponing the vote. The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which Abbas heads, said in a statement that conditions in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were not conducive to holding elections, noting that Israel had not allowed election materials or international observers into Gaza.
The move was expected after Palestinian factions from across the political spectrum met in Cairo to discuss postponing the vote, Islamic Jihad Deputy Secretary General Mohammed al-Hindi told The Associated Press earlier this week.
The Palestinians have not held legislative elections since 2006, when Hamas won the majority of seats. Israel and Western countries then boycotted his government, fueling months of unrest that led to Hamas’s takeover of Gaza the following year. Power was shared between Gaza and the West Bank over the next two decades, with Hamas controlling Gaza and Abbas’ Palestinian Authority ruling the West Bank.
The West Bank has grown more and more violent In recent years, Israel has expanded its settlements and outposts. Settler attacks on Palestinians and Israeli army raids on towns under government control are regularly reported.
Although negotiated by the United States ceasefire plan While last year’s agreement outlined the authority’s future role, its immediate role has remained largely undefined as Hamas has continued to govern and Peace Council technocrats remain in Cairo awaiting permission to enter Gaza to ensure the transition of power.
Before the postponement, the ruling factions had not registered lists to run in the elections. But behind the scenes, veteran officials were in talks to join forces and target Abbas. An unlikely alliance has formed between Hamas, Islamic Jihad and a bloc led by Fatah’s former security chief, Mohammed Dahlan. Dahlan had previously been driven out of Gaza by Hamas and was exiled in 2010 after a dispute with Abbas.
“Abbas is terrified by the electoral alliance uniting our faction with opposition factions and forces within Fatah that reject his leadership,” Dimitri Dilliani, a spokesman for Dahlan’s faction, said in a statement.
Abbas has been president since 2005 and has delayed several presidential and legislative elections throughout his term.
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