Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a presidential decree Thursday setting November 28, 2026, as the date for Palestinian legislative elections, the first since January 2006. Presidential elections are scheduled for the first quarter of 2027. The decree notably excludes elections for the Palestinian National Council, the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and QNN has exclusively learned why.
The decree calls on Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip to participate in free and direct elections to choose members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. It was issued under Decree-Law No. 1 of 2007 on general elections and its amendments.
Abbas, 90, won the last Palestinian presidential election in 2005 with a four-year mandate, meaning his term should have expired in 2009. He has ruled by presidential decrees since, with elections repeatedly postponed. The Palestinian Legislative Council has not met since 2007, following Hamas’s victory in the 2006 elections that defeated Abbas’s Fatah party. In 2021, Abbas announced legislative and presidential elections for May and July of that year but postponed them indefinitely, citing the absence of guarantees that voting could take place in occupied East Jerusalem.
Exclusive: Why the National Council Was Left Out
QNN’s exclusive sources reveal that the exclusion of Palestinian National Council elections from Abbas’s decree was the result of political and logistical obstacles, most prominently European and Arab positions alongside internal Fatah arrangements to form the National Council abroad through appointment rather than election.
According to QNN’s sources, European parties informed the Palestinian Authority that they refuse to supervise National Council elections on the grounds that their political and legal recognition is limited to Palestinian Authority institutions and does not extend to PLO institutions. A number of European and Arab states also refused to organize National Council elections for Palestinians residing on their territories, which constituted one of the most significant obstacles to holding simultaneous elections for both councils.
QNN’s sources further reveal that Fatah reached an understanding approximately two weeks ago with a number of factions to prepare a list of approximately 150 members for the Palestinian National Council abroad, to be approved by appointment rather than election. Sources indicate growing discontent within several PLO factions, particularly in the Syrian and Lebanese arenas, over what they describe as Fatah unilaterally preparing National Council membership lists for those arenas without consulting other factions or requesting candidates from them.
The announcement comes as Palestinian calls persist for comprehensive elections encompassing the presidency, the Legislative Council, and the National Council, to allow reconstruction of Palestinian political institutions through the ballot box after years of frozen democratic process.
The PA has faced sustained criticism over corruption, stagnation, and declining legitimacy. Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have widely condemned the PA for its failure to defend them against escalating Israeli settler attacks and occupation force raids, with many describing its security coordination with Israel as a betrayal rather than a service. The PA’s near-total silence during Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and its continued security coordination with the occupation throughout the assault, have deepened its credibility crisis among Palestinians who view it as complicit in the political conditions that enabled the genocide. International donors have increasingly tied financial and diplomatic support to political reform, with elections among the central demands of the United States and European governments.
“Reprinted from…”https://countercurrents.org/2026/07/first-palestinian-elections-in-20-years-set-for-november/