The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, 90 years old, announced this Saturday the suspension of the Palestinian legislative elections scheduled for November 28 and set a new joint date with the presidential elections for November 11, 2027.
According to the Palestinian leader, the decision is motivated by the restrictions and attacks by Israel in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which compromise "the possibility of holding free, fair, and inclusive elections." In his message, he specifically refers to "Israeli military attacks, the expansion of settlements, settler violence, and repeated Israeli incursions throughout the West Bank."
Abbas also mentions the limitations on the freedom of movement of the population and the withholding of passes for Palestinians by the Israeli authorities, which, in his view, further aggravates the electoral scenario.
The presidential decree emphasizes that the cancellation of the call has been made after a "national consensus among the factions and political forces (Palestinian) that in light of the Israeli measures, elections must be held under appropriate political and security conditions for free, fair, and inclusive elections." The text insists on the need for all citizens to participate in future elections.
Abbas also calls for opening a phase of inclusive national dialogue that strengthens Palestinian unity, guarantees territorial continuity and the political system, addresses the challenges posed by the electoral process, and ensures the involvement of Palestinians in Jerusalem, in the West Bank, and the full exercise of their political and constitutional rights.
The Palestinian president also criticizes the limitations imposed by Israel on the officials of the Central Election Commission and on international observers. Likewise, he deplores the lack of an international stabilization force and a police force in Gaza as contemplated in Resolution 1803.
"These conditions prevent the establishment of an appropriate environment for elections and affect the security guarantees of voters, candidates, and electoral workers," Abbas has denounced while justifying the postponement.
Abbas has not submitted to the polls since 2005, while the last legislative elections were held in 2006, when the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) defeated the Al Fatah Movement, led by Abbas. Those results triggered a deep political crisis in the Gaza Strip that ended with the expulsion of Al Fatah from the coastal enclave.