Palestinian elections are approaching — the possibility of cancellation is back on the table
Senior PA officials emphasize that elections for the Legislative Council are expected to take place at the end of November, but set a series of conditions for their holding. The opposition to Mahmoud Abbas / Abu Mazen fears: "This is a way to postpone the elections again."
Will the Palestinian elections be cancelled? Remarks made by the Deputy Chairman of the PA, Hussein al-Sheikh, caused a storm this week, as opponents of the rule of Mahmoud Abbas / Abu Mazen warned of Ramallah's tendency to postpone the process until further notice. Currently, the elections for the Legislative Council are scheduled for the end of November.
In a briefing with Palestinian journalists, an associate of Mahmoud Abbas / Abu Mazen stated:
"The Palestinian leadership is determined and will definitely hold the elections for the Legislative Council. There is no turning back from the decision to go to elections."
However, he added: "Holding the elections depends on them not being disrupted — whether by the Israeli side or by any other factor. Israel has not yet given permission for the elections to be held, and the American administration has not responded so far regarding its position on holding the elections." Furthermore, al-Sheikh noted that in the event that it is not possible to hold elections for the Legislative Council, the Authority will turn to forming the Palestinian Council "by consensus." This is the legislative body of the PLO that includes 350 seats.
In the opposition to Mahmoud Abbas / Abu Mazen, which ranges from Hamas to breakaway factions of Fatah, they saw this as a hint of a future excuse by the Palestinian Authority to postpone the process until further notice. In 2021, the Authority already effectively cancelled the elections, claiming that Israel was not allowing it to hold the process in East Jerusalem.
Fatah spokesman, Jamal Nazzal, responded to these concerns in the Arab media:
"Every leadership in the world has a plan A and a plan B, but there is a great thirst in our ranks for holding elections for the Legislative Council and we want this to be the first option. However, if Israel insists on disrupting the elections, and if we do not have confirmation that Hamas will cooperate in Gaza, and all this turns out to be impossible, there must be emergency solutions. There is a National Council that represents the PLO parliament."
When asked if the elections would be cancelled in the event that there are no elections in East Jerusalem or in Gaza, Nazzal answered in the affirmative.
