Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub ruled out holding the Palestinian legislative election on its scheduled date of 28 November, saying current Palestinian and regional conditions did not allow it, while Palestinian Central Elections Commission Chairman Rami Hamdallah affirmed that preparations were continuing to implement the timetable within the legally prescribed periods.
Call for national dialogue and presidential election first
Rajoub called for a presidential election to be held first and for comprehensive national dialogue to reach agreement on the mechanisms of the electoral process, noting that the decree calling the elections should have been preceded by national consultations. He added that a presidential election was easier and less costly and could be held through consensus, helping address a large part of the problem.
Holding the legislative election under the current circumstances is «impossible».
Rajoub said no lists that he considered serious had been formed to participate in the election, even though the nomination period begins on 26 September. He linked overcoming the impasse to reaching an arrangement that begins with national unity and internal Palestinian reforms, stressing that elections must remain a strategic option and a route to power.
Elections commission sticks to timetable
Hamdallah, meanwhile, said during a meeting with Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh that the commission was continuing to implement the election timetable within the legally prescribed periods. It was also continuing its technical and administrative preparations and contacts with relevant local and international parties, with the aim of removing obstacles and ensuring free, fair and inclusive elections on the scheduled date.
Amendments to election law
But in early August, Abbas issued a decision restoring the number of Legislative Council members to 132, scrapping the increase approved in the previous amendment.
Elections postponed since 2006
The last Palestinian legislative election was held in 2006, when Hamas won ahead of Fatah, before disputes between the two movements escalated. In January 2021, Abbas announced legislative and presidential elections for May and July of that year, but they were later postponed indefinitely because there were no guarantees that voting could take place in East Jerusalem.
Rajoub described the cancellation of the 2021 election as «the biggest mistake in the history of the Palestinian national movement». He had been unanimously elected secretary of Fatah's Central Committee days before his comments.
In April, Palestinians took part in elections to choose heads of municipal councils, held in the West Bank and the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. It was the first voting process since the war in Gaza began in October 2023.
