Abbas Delays First Palestinian Parliamentary Vote in Nearly 20 Years to 2027

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has postponed legislative elections that were set for next month, moving them to Sept. 11, 2027. The vote would have been the first Palestinian parliamentary election in nearly 20 years, according to ABC News and Al Jazeera. Presidential elections, which have not been held for more than two decades, are scheduled for the same day, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

The delay leaves the current Palestinian leadership unchallenged and may further weaken the Palestinian Authority's standing among Palestinians and the donor countries that fund it, ABC News reported.

How the vote came to be delayed again

• 2005: Abbas wins the last Palestinian presidential election and takes office.
• 2006: Hamas defeats Fatah in the last legislative election. Israel and Western countries boycott the resulting government, and months of unrest follow. Hamas takes over Gaza the following year.
• 2009: Abbas's presidential term should have ended, Al Jazeera reported. He has ruled by decree since then.
• 2010: Mohammed Dahlan, a former Fatah security chief, is exiled after a falling-out with Abbas, according to ABC News.
• June: Abbas signs a decree calling for a presidential election in early 2027.
• Nov. 28: The date originally set for the legislative vote.
• Friday: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar accuses Abbas of cancelling promised elections, as rumors of a delay circulate.
• Saturday: WAFA reports the decree moving both elections to Sept. 11, 2027. ABC News said the decree was issued Friday, while its other reporting and Al Jazeera place a committee meeting of top officials on Saturday morning.

Reasons the Palestinian leadership gave

The Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee, which Abbas heads, said conditions in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were not suitable for an election. It noted that Israel had not allowed election materials or international observers into Gaza.

According to Al Jazeera's account of the WAFA report, the agency also pointed to Israeli military raids, settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank. It further cited Israel's withholding of Palestinian tax revenues and restrictions on candidates and observers in Gaza and East Jerusalem. On Gaza, it said a lack of progress on reconstruction and on deploying an international stabilization force played a part. Euronews reported that the presidency blamed security, logistical and on-the-ground obstacles, and that the PLO committee said conditions had changed fundamentally since the vote was announced.

Reactions and political maneuvering

Sa'ar accused Abbas of "fooling the international community," according to Euronews. The European Union had signaled support for a November vote. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said earlier this week that an election would offer a long-overdue chance to renew the legitimacy of Palestinian institutions. In September, EU Commissioner Dubravka Šuica welcomed the decision to hold elections before year's end.

Before the postponement, leading factions had not registered candidate slates, ABC News reported. Behind the scenes, though, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and a bloc led by Dahlan had been discussing an unlikely alliance against Abbas. A spokesperson for Dahlan's faction, Dimitri Dilliani, said in a statement that Abbas was afraid of an alliance that included opposition forces within Fatah. That is his claim, and Abbas's office has not been quoted responding to it in the reports.

Islamic Jihad's deputy secretary-general, Mohammed al-Hindi, told The Associated Press that factions meeting in Cairo had discussed delaying the vote. Al Jazeera, citing a source who spoke to AFP, reported that factions including Fatah had agreed to hold a national dialogue before legislative elections and wanted to postpone the vote.

What this means for Palestinians and the Authority's backers

For Palestinians, the decision means another year without a chance to choose a legislature, in a political system divided for nearly two decades. Hamas governs Gaza, and Abbas's Palestinian Authority administers semiautonomous parts of the West Bank. Many Palestinians view the Authority as corrupt and criticize its security cooperation with Israel, ABC News reported.

The delay also matters to the Authority's international funders, who had publicly backed a vote. The U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan from last year outlined a future role for the Authority but left its immediate role largely undefined, ABC News said. Hamas continues to govern Gaza, and the technocrats under the Board of Peace are still in Cairo awaiting permission to enter the territory and begin a transition of power.

What happens next

Under the decree, presidential and legislative elections are to be held together on Sept. 11, 2027. Al Jazeera reported that factions have discussed a national dialogue before any legislative vote. No date for that dialogue has been reported. Abbas has delayed several presidential and legislative elections during his time in office, according to ABC News.

Sources: ABC News, Euronews, Al Jazeera