The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, expressed this Monday, on behalf of the Twenty-Seven, her regret over the decision to postpone the Palestinian legislative and presidential elections for a year until November 2027, demanding that they take place "as soon as possible" given the need for Palestinian institutions to renew their democratic legitimacy after two decades without legislative elections.
"The legislative and presidential elections should be held as soon as possible. After 20 years without a legislative vote, Palestinian institutions need renewed legitimacy," Kallas emphasized in a press appearance at the end of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) held this Monday in Luxembourg.
The head of community diplomacy also insisted that the European Union remains prepared to support the organization of the elections, considering among other options the sending of a European electoral observation mission to supervise the development of the voting.
Her words come after the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, announced on Saturday the cancellation of the legislative elections scheduled for November 28 and their rescheduling to November 11, 2027, the date on which they would be held jointly with the presidential elections.
Abbas explained that the measure responds to the restrictions and attacks by Israel in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which, he denounced, prevent guaranteeing the necessary conditions to organize "free, fair, and inclusive" elections.
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) supported the postponement, considering that currently the political and security circumstances essential to carry out the electoral process are not present.
The last Palestinian legislative elections were held in 2006, with Hamas winning against Abbas's Al Fatah movement, while the last presidential elections date back to 2005, when the current Palestinian president was elected to the position.