Palestine: Abbas Announces First Parliamentary Elections

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced elections for November 1, 2026, to elect members of the Palestinian National Council via direct universal suffrage for the first time. The council is the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Abbas, who is the president of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO, issued a decree stating that the elections will be held wherever possible, both inside and outside of Palestine, to ensure the maximum participation of the Palestinian people. Until now, members of the Palestinian National Council were either appointed or indirectly elected.

The Palestinian National Council is dominated by Fatah, the movement of Mahmoud Abbas, which he founded together with Yasser Arafat. The Palestinian Islamist movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad are not members of the PLO and are not represented in the council.

Source: ΑΠΕ ΜΠΕ