Palestinian Legislative Elections Postponed Again to 2027; PLO Attributes Delay to Israeli Systemic Obstruction

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree on the 10th, postponing the Palestinian Legislative Council elections originally scheduled for next month to September 11, 2027, to be held jointly with the presidential election. This marks another delay following nearly two decades of stagnation in Palestinian parliamentary elections.

According to Al Jazeera reports, citing a decree issued the same day by the Palestinian official news agency WAFA, the new voting date has been set for September 11, 2027, with the legislative election to be merged with the presidential election originally scheduled for early 2027. The decree was issued after the Palestinian High Officials Committee met to discuss the matter that morning.

In a statement issued shortly thereafter, the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) placed the responsibility for the collapse of voting conditions squarely on Israel. The obstacles listed in the statement include: Israel not allowing election materials and international observers into Gaza; military raids in the West Bank; the continued expansion of settlements and settler violence; the "systematic withholding" of Palestinian tax revenues; and Israeli restrictions on candidates' access to Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem. The statement also noted that the stalled progress in Gaza reconstruction and the long-delayed failure to deploy an "international stabilization force" were likewise cited as reasons for the postponement.

WAFA's report noted that this postponement places the Palestinian Authority (PA)—already paralyzed by a high degree of power concentration—before an even greater legitimacy crisis. The continued delay of parliamentary elections, absent for nearly two decades, affects not only the Palestinian public but also the donor countries funding the PA.

The decree signed by Abbas is the latest footnote to the long-since collapsed Palestinian democratic structure. The last Palestinian parliamentary election was held in 2006, when Hamas defeated Fatah, which dominated the PA. The two factions clashed, and Hamas subsequently took control of Gaza. The 90-year-old Abbas won the last presidential election in 2005; according to electoral law, his term should have ended in 2009, after which he has continued to govern by decree. In June this year, he signed an order announcing that the presidential election would be held in early 2027; this new decree in effect postpones that election itself once again.

Israel's response remained confined to personal criticism of Abbas. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar accused Abbas on the 9th (Friday) of "fooling the international community" by canceling the promised elections, but did not respond to the Palestinian accusations of Israeli systemic disruption of voting conditions.

Palestinian factions, including Fatah, had previously reached consensus on the postponement. According to AFP, citing unnamed sources on Thursday, the factions agreed to hold a "national dialogue" before the legislative election and hoped to postpone the vote.

The postponement has triggered domestic backlash. Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative party, told Al Jazeera that the Palestinian public is deeply disappointed by this. He pointed out: "All power is currently concentrated in the hands of the executive authority. There is no independent judiciary, no parliament, no ability to legislate or pass laws." He said that the denial of voting rights to Palestinians for twenty years is "completely unacceptable," and that the Palestinian people "urgently need reform."