President Mahmoud Abbas postponed what would have been the first Palestinian elections in nearly 20 years, issuing a decree on Friday to further delay the vote for the Palestinian Legislative Council by almost another year. Instead of taking place as planned next month, the decree delays the elections until September 11, 2027, according to WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency. The presidential election, which has not taken place for more than two decades, is scheduled for the same day. The postponement leaves entrenched Palestinian leaders unopposed and threatens to further erode the Palestinian Authority’s credibility among ordinary Palestinians and the donor countries that fund it. The internationally backed body is dominated by Abbas’s Fatah party and has administered semi-autonomous parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank since agreements reached in the 1990s. It has become increasingly unpopular during Abbas’ presidency. Many Palestinians consider him corrupt and criticize his security cooperation with Israel. The decree came after a committee of senior Palestinian officials met on Saturday morning to discuss postponing the vote. The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which Abbas heads, said in a statement that conditions in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were not conducive to holding elections, noting that Israel had not allowed election materials or international observers to enter Gaza. The move was expected after Palestinian factions from across the political spectrum met in Cairo to discuss delaying the vote, Islamic Jihad Undersecretary General Mohammed al-Hindi told The Associated Press earlier this week. The Palestinians have not held legislative elections since 2006, when Hamas won the majority of seats. Israel and Western countries then boycotted his government, fueling months of unrest that led to Hamas’ takeover of Gaza the following year. Power has been divided between Gaza and the West Bank in the two decades since, with Hamas in control of Gaza and Abbas’s Palestinian Authority in power in the West Bank. The West Bank has become increasingly violent in recent years as Israel has expanded its settlements and outposts. Settler attacks on Palestinians and Israeli army raids on cities under the authority’s control are regularly reported. Although the US-brokered ceasefire plan reached last year outlined a future role for the authority, its immediate role remained largely undefined as Hamas has continued to rule and technocrats under the Peace Junta remain in Cairo awaiting permission to enter Gaza to make the transition of power. Before the postponement, the main factions had not registered lists to contest the elections. But behind the scenes, veteran officials had been in talks to join forces and target Abbas. An unlikely alliance had emerged between Hamas, Islamic Jihad and a bloc led by former Fatah security chief Mohammed Dahlan. Dahlan had previously been expelled from Gaza by Hamas and was exiled in 2010 after a dispute with Abbas. “Abbas is terrified by the electoral alliance that unites our faction with opposition factions and forces within Fatah that reject his leadership,” Dimitri Dilliani, spokesman for Dahlan’s faction, said in a statement. Abbas has been president since 2005 and delayed several presidential and legislative elections during his term. More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press in:
