Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has announced plans for parliamentary and presidential elections for the first time in about 15 years as Palestinians try to rebuild their ties with President-elect Joe Biden after falling into the administration Trump.
Palestinians have repeatedly tried to hold elections in the past decade, but each attempt was thwarted by challenges, including strong divisions between Fatah, the party that largely controls the Palestinian Authority that governs the West Bank, and Hamas, a group Palestinian militant who controls Gaza.
However, the decree issued on Friday night by 85-year-old Mr Abbas, who is serving his 16th term in office in 2005, was the Palestinian who has legally reached national elections. a decade and a half.
The Palestinian leader’s decree set legislative elections for May 22 and presidential elections for July 31. Elections for the Palestinian National Council, which represents Palestinians abroad, are set for August 31.
The proposal is part of a broader effort to heal the internal schisms of the Palestinian leadership. The issue of Palestinian unity has grown in importance for both Hamas and Fatah following the Abraham Accords, which have been granted by the United States, which since last September has seen Israel normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates. , Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. For decades, the Palestinians have relied on their Arab allies to hold back normalization of relations with Israel until Israel has made peace with them.