RAMALLAH, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday cancelled legislative elections scheduled for November due to worsening conditions within the Palestinian territories and set a date of September 11, 2027 for both presidential and legislative elections, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Abbas’ decree cited “obstacles posed by Israeli measures” to holding elections in November and the need to establish suitable political, security and on-the-ground conditions for “free, fair and inclusive elections”. It called on Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza to participate in the polls.
There had been serious doubts that the Palestinian Authority vote would go ahead in late November. The Palestinians have not held legislative or presidential elections since 2005-06, after which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ rival, the Islamist group Hamas, seized control of Gaza, ousting his loyalists.
The decree said Israeli military attacks, settlement expansion, settler violence and movement restrictions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, along with Israel’s continued withholding of Palestinian tax revenues, created challenges to preparing for and holding elections on the previous date.
In Gaza, the decree pointed to “exceptional security and humanitarian conditions”, the incomplete withdrawal of Israeli forces, the lack of progress in reconstruction and the failure to implement arrangements for deploying international stabilisation forces and police.
Israeli restrictions on access for election commission staff and international observers to Gaza and East Jerusalem also complicated preparations, the decree said.
The decision to postpone followed a resolution by the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s executive committee and consultations with Palestinian factions and political forces. It also aimed to allow time for a comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue to strengthen unity and address challenges facing the electoral process.
(Reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Nidal Al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Eman Abouhassira in Dubai, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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