Palestine has not been able to hold general elections for 20 years... Simultaneous with the presidential election next September

The Palestinian Authority announced that it would postpone the general elections scheduled for November this year to September next year and hold them together with the presidential election.

According to AFP on the 10th (local time), the head of the autonomous government, Mahmoud Abbas, announced a decree calling for elections for the head of the autonomous government (presidential election) and legislative assembly elections (general elections) to be held simultaneously on September 11 next year, Palestinian state-run WAFA news agency reported.

Last July, President Abbas announced a decree confirming that the general elections would be held on November 28.

Palestine's last general election was held 20 years ago, in January 2006. At that time, Hamas, an armed political faction that advocated armed resistance against Israel, became the majority party, winning 74 of the 132 seats.

A year later, Hamas ousted Fatah and took control of the Gaza Strip after a bloody clash with Abbas's Fatah faction.

Afterwards, the Palestinian parliament was virtually paralyzed, and was officially dissolved by the Palestinian Constitutional Court in late 2018.

Abbas, now 90 years old, was elected in the election held on January 9, 2005. His official term ended in 2009, but he has remained in power to this day, with subsequent presidential elections repeatedly postponed or canceled.

Earlier, in a letter sent to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barro on the 8th, Deputy Head of the Autonomous Government Hussein Al-Sheikh hinted at postponing the general election schedule, saying, "The political, security and economic conditions that formed the basis for the general election schedule scheduled for November 28 did not materialize as expected," he said. "If elections are held under the current circumstances, we will face fundamental obstacles that will affect inclusivity, freedom of participation, and fairness of the election process," Reuters reported.