Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a presidential decree on Saturday calling for simultaneous presidential and legislative elections on 11 September 2027, based on a decision by the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, instead of holding legislative council elections alone next November.
Previous legislative election date cancelled
The new decree cancels an earlier decision by Abbas setting 28 November as the date for elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council, when he also called on Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to take part.
The Palestinian News Agency said the decision was based on national consultations with Palestinian factions and political forces, which resulted in agreement on the obstacles preventing elections from being held on their previous date and the need to establish suitable political, security and on-the-ground conditions for free, fair and inclusive elections.
Consultations and conditions required for the vote
The agency added that setting the new date was intended to allow for comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue, strengthen national unity and the unity of the territory and political system, and address the challenges facing the electoral process. It also aims to ensure the participation of Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and safeguard their political and constitutional rights.
The agency attributed the postponement to continuing attacks by Israeli forces, settlement expansion, settler attacks and ongoing Israeli raids in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These developments coincide with restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement and travel and the continued withholding of Palestinian clearance revenues, creating security, economic and administrative challenges for preparing for and holding the elections on the previous date.
In the Gaza Strip, exceptional security and humanitarian conditions continue, alongside the failure to implement arrangements for deploying international stabilisation forces and police forces under UN Security Council Resolution 2803, the failure to begin reconstruction, and the incomplete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory.
The agency said Israeli restrictions on the access of Central Elections Commission teams and international observers to Gaza and East Jerusalem were preventing the provision of the conditions necessary for free, fair and inclusive elections that would ensure citizens’ safety and enable them to exercise their electoral rights freely in all Palestinian governorates.
Elections commission to oversee preparations and organisation
Under the presidential decree, the Central Elections Commission will prepare for, organise and supervise the presidential and legislative elections in accordance with the provisions of the applicable General Elections Law. On 9 July, Abbas had issued a decree setting 28 November as the date for legislative elections in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The elections commission began accepting applications to register electoral lists on 26 September, receiving applications from eight lists during the first four days, while the previously announced timetable had set 13 October as the deadline for accepting applications.
Palestinian Vice-President Hussein al-Sheikh said during a meeting with journalists on 2 August that if elections could not be held because they were prevented or obstructed in the Gaza Strip or any other part of the Palestinian territories, the alternative plan would be to form the National Council by consensus, with the Palestine Liberation Organisation regarded as the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people.
Voter distribution and the Legislative Council’s inactivity
About 2,970,000 Palestinians are eligible to vote, including 1,590,000 in the West Bank, 1,240,000 in the Gaza Strip and about 140,000 Jerusalem identity card holders. The last Palestinian legislative elections were held in 2006, when the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas won a majority of the council’s seats.
In 2007, internal fighting broke out between Hamas and the Fatah movement, ending with Hamas taking control of the Gaza Strip, while the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority remained in the West Bank. The Palestinian Legislative Council ceased functioning in 2007, before the High Constitutional Court issued a decision dissolving it in 2018.
The new date for the presidential and legislative elections therefore comes more than two decades after the last Legislative Council elections.
