President Mahmoud Abbas has issued a decree delaying Palestinian Legislative Council elections from next month to Sept. 11, 2027.
The Story
President Mahmoud Abbas has postponed Palestinian Legislative Council elections that were scheduled for next month, issuing a decree to push voting back to Sept. 11, 2027, according to WAFA.
The decree means the legislative vote will now take place nearly another year later than originally planned, with presidential elections scheduled for the same day.
WAFA reported the decree was issued after a committee of senior Palestinian officials met Saturday morning to discuss postponing the election.
The Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee, 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, adding that Israel had not allowed election materials or international observers to enter Gaza.
Palestinians have not held a legislative election since 2006, when Hamas won a majority of seats, after which Israel and Western countries boycotted the government.
In the two decades since, power has been divided between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with Hamas in control of Gaza and Abbas’ Palestinian Authority governing parts of the West Bank.
The Palestinian Legislative Council is dominated by Abbas’ party, Fatah, and has administered semiautonomous parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank since agreements reached in the 1990s.
Abbas has served as president since 2005 and has delayed several presidential and legislative elections throughout his tenure.
← More stories