Palestine to Hold Long-Delayed Legislative Election Together with Presidential Vote Next September

The Palestinian Authority has announced that it will postpone its legislative election originally scheduled for November of this year to September of next year, holding it concurrently with the presidential election.

According to AFP and the official Palestinian news agency WAFA on October 10 (local time), Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree setting both the presidential election and the legislative council election (parliamentary election) for September 11 of next year.

President Abbas had previously issued a decree in July confirming that the legislative election would be held on November 28.

Palestine's last legislative election was held 20 years ago in January 2006.

At that time, Hamas, an armed faction advocating armed resistance against Israel, won 74 out of 132 total seats to become the majority party.

A year later, following bloody clashes with the Fatah faction led by President Abbas, Hamas ousted Fatah and took control of the Gaza Strip.

Since then, the Palestinian parliament has been virtually paralyzed and was officially dissolved by the Palestinian Constitutional Court in late 2018.

President Abbas, who is 90 years old this year, was elected in an election held on January 9, 2005.

His official term ended in 2009, but presidential elections have been repeatedly postponed or canceled, allowing him to remain in power to this day.

Previously, Reuters reported that Palestinian Authority Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Sheikh said in a letter sent to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on October 8 that "the political, security, and economic conditions that formed the basis for the November 28 legislative election schedule have not materialized as expected." He added, "Holding elections under the current circumstances would face fundamental obstacles affecting inclusivity, freedom of participation, and the fairness of the electoral process," hinting at the postponement of the election schedule.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.