Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas has issued an official decree directing that new elections for the Palestinian National Council (PNC) be held before the close of 2025, Xinhua reported on Saturday.
The move follows a resolution passed during a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee last Thursday.
According to the PA’s official news agency WAFA, the committee decided to proceed with PNC elections within the current calendar year. The precise date will soon be set by the PLO Executive Committee chairman.
According to the decree, the PNC will comprise 350 members. Two-thirds of these delegates will represent constituencies within the Palestinian Arab homeland, while the remaining third will be drawn from Palestinian Arabs living abroad and throughout the diaspora.
Furthermore, the PLO Executive Committee is charged with establishing a preparatory committee to manage the logistical arrangements needed to facilitate the forthcoming elections.
The Palestinian National Council functions as the legislative body of the PLO and includes a broad spectrum of representation - from political factions and national forces to worker unions and community groups within and beyond PA-assigned territories.
PA elections were scheduled for 2021, but Abbas officially announced that they would be postponed.
While the PA chairman cited Israel’s refusal to allow Arabs residing in eastern Jerusalem to vote as the reason for the postponement, many believe that the real reason is Abbas’s fear that he would lose the elections to Hamas.
Abbas's term as PA chairman was meant to expire in 2009, but he has remained in office in the absence of elections.
No PA elections have taken place since 2006 and similar initiatives in the past have failed to result in elections.