The decree was issued based on the decision of the PLO Executive Committee and in light of national consultations with Palestinian factions and political forces. It reflects a national consensus regarding the obstacles imposed by Israeli measures against holding elections on the previous date, and the necessity of creating appropriate political, security, and field conditions to ensure free, fair, and comprehensive elections.
The decision aims to provide an opportunity for a comprehensive Palestinian national dialogue that strengthens national unity, the unity of the land, and the Palestinian political system. It seeks to address the issues and challenges facing the electoral process and provide the foundations for its success, ensuring the participation of Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, while safeguarding their political and constitutional rights.
The amendment of the previous legislative election date and the setting of a new date for simultaneous presidential and legislative elections come in light of the ongoing attacks by Israeli occupation forces, settlement expansion, settler violence, and continuous Israeli incursions into the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This is accompanied by restrictions on freedom of movement and the continued withholding of Palestinian clearance revenues, which impose security, economic, and administrative challenges to preparing for and conducting the electoral process on the previous date.
Regarding the Gaza Strip, the decision comes in light of the ongoing exceptional security and humanitarian conditions, the failure to implement arrangements related to the deployment of international stabilization forces and police forces in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution (2803), the failure to begin the reconstruction process, and the incomplete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Strip. These factors create security, field, and logistical obstacles that prevent the creation of the necessary conditions for holding elections.
The obstacles also include Israeli restrictions imposed on the access of Central Elections Commission staff and international observers to the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, resulting in difficulties in completing electoral preparations and procedures, and ensuring the freedom of operation for the authorities responsible for supervising and monitoring the elections in accordance with legal and democratic standards.
These combined circumstances affect the possibility of holding free, fair, and comprehensive elections on the previous date, while ensuring the safety of citizens and the exercise of their electoral rights freely and safely, and guaranteeing the participation of Palestinians in all governorates of the homeland, including East Jerusalem, as an integral part of the Palestinian electoral process.
Setting the new date for the presidential and legislative elections reaffirms the commitment to holding them as a national and constitutional entitlement, embodying the right of the Palestinian people to choose their representatives freely and democratically, and reflecting a keenness to renew the democratic legitimacy of Palestinian institutions and strengthen the unity of the Palestinian political system.
Under the decree, the Central Elections Commission is tasked with taking the necessary measures to prepare for, organize, and supervise the presidential and legislative elections, in accordance with the provisions of the current General Elections Law, ensuring they are conducted in a free, fair, transparent, and comprehensive manner across all Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.
