Gaza - FiMED

The Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" has accused the Palestinian Authority leadership in Ramallah of continuing to obstruct general elections, holding that the persistent postponement of the electoral process seizes Palestinians' right to choose their representatives and entrenches the monopolization of national institutions away from oversight and popular accountability..

The movement's spokesman, Hazem Qassem, said in a press statement on Wednesday that blocking elections for more than twenty years has contributed to the erosion of the legitimacy of Palestinian institutions, led to the absence of oversight over them, the spread of favoritism, and the transformation of institutions that are supposed to be national into partisan institutions.

Qassem affirmed that elections are an inherent right of the Palestinian people, calling on the Authority's leadership to respect the will of voters and not to obstruct this right for fear of losing the elections, stressing that the ballot boxes must be the reference in choosing the people's representatives and determining the future of their institutions.

He added that the interests of Palestinians should be the focus of all political forces' work, and that renewing institutional legitimacy cannot be achieved without respecting citizens' right to political participation and free choice.

Repeated postponement deepens legitimacy crisis

Hamas's remarks come amid the continued stalling of Palestinian general elections; no legislative elections have been held since 2006, while the last presidential ballot dates back to 2005, which has left political institutions facing a continuous crisis over renewing their legitimacy and the mechanisms of holding them accountable.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had issued a decree in January 2021 calling for legislative elections on May 22, presidential elections on July 31, and elections to the National Council on August 31 of the same year, before announcing their postponement in April 2021, justifying the decision by the inability to guarantee they would be held in occupied Jerusalem.

The debate over the future of the electoral process was renewed after Abbas issued, on October 10 last year, a presidential decree cancelling Decree No. (4) of 2026, which had set November 28 as the date for legislative elections, and decided to hold presidential and legislative elections simultaneously on September 11, 2027.

The decision means postponing the legislative elections by nearly ten months from their previous date, even though the Central Elections Commission had begun in September last year receiving applications to register electoral lists in preparation for the ballot.

This postponement returns the elections file to the forefront of Palestinian disputes, at a time when calls are mounting to rebuild the political system, renew the legitimacy of its institutions, end the division, and activate oversight and accountability. The continued absence of elections also raises questions about the ability of existing institutions to represent Palestinians in the absence of a renewed electoral mandate.