Palestinians to vote in first presidential election in over 20 years
Presidential vote to take place in 2027 after legislative elections in November
Dubai: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has issued a decree setting November 28 for legislative elections, with presidential elections to follow in the first quarter of 2027, in what would mark the first Palestinian presidential vote in more than 20 years.
The decree calls on Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to take part in direct legislative elections to choose members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, according to the official Wafa news agency.
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The last Palestinian legislative elections were held in 2006, when Hamas defeated Abbas’s Fatah movement. The Palestinian Legislative Council has not met since 2007, after the political split between Fatah and Hamas.
Under the new decree, the exact date for the presidential election will be completed in accordance with the law, with the vote due to be held in the first quarter of 2027. Abbas, 90, last won a presidential election in 2005 for a four-year term, but no presidential election has been held since.
The announcement follows recent amendments to the general elections law, including expanding the Legislative Council to 200 seats, lowering the electoral threshold to 1 per cent, raising the minimum number of candidates on each list to 20, strengthening women’s representation and reducing the minimum age for legislative candidates from 28 to 23.
Abbas had earlier called on Palestinians inside and outside the Palestinian territories to elect members of the Palestinian National Council on November 1, with elected members of the Legislative Council to automatically become members of the National Council.
The move comes amid international pressure for Palestinian Authority reforms and years of criticism over political stagnation, declining legitimacy and the absence of national elections. A previous attempt to hold legislative and presidential elections in 2021 was postponed indefinitely, with officials citing the lack of guarantees that voting could take place in East Jerusalem.
