Palestinian Authority Sets Date for First Major Elections in 20 Years
Analysts expressed skepticism that the vote would take place as planned. In 2021, Mahmoud Abbas, the authority’s leader, scheduled and then canceled a similar election.
Mahmoud Abbas, the longtime president of the Palestinian Authority, on Thursday set Palestinian parliamentary elections for this November in what would be the first such vote in more than two decades.
The announcement appeared to be part of an effort by the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to convince the United States and European and Arab nations that it was willing to make changes to its system. The authority has been dogged for years by accusations of corruption , and U.S. officials have said that it can play a meaningful role in postwar Gaza only if it can carry out a significant overhaul.
But some Palestinians and analysts questioned whether the elections would happen at all. Mr. Abbas called a similar election in 2021 only to abruptly cancel the vote after it became clear his hold on power was under threat. Mr. Abbas’s elections decree does not mention a presidential vote, which could threaten his position at the top.
“We need elections and we would love for the opportunity to vote,” said Mahzouz Shalaldeh, 41, a resident of a village in the Hebron area in the southern West Bank. “But I just can’t see them actually taking place.”
Mr. Abbas, 90, was elected to office in early 2005 after the death of his predecessor, Yasir Arafat. As the leader of Fatah, the ruling party in the West Bank, Mr. Abbas has consolidated his authority by ousting rivals, sidelining the judiciary and cooperating with Israel on security.
