All-Palestinian Gathering: Postponing the elections is unconstitutional, and we are studying legal and political steps to confront it

Ramallah - Ofoq News - Lawyer Dr. Bassam Al-Qawasmi, founder of the All-Palestinian Gathering and professor of constitutional and administrative law, said that the presidential decree to postpone the legislative elections and set a new date for the general elections entails, according to his legal assessment, constitutional and legal violations, and wastes the political rights of the Palestinian citizen, indicating that the gathering is considering taking judicial and political steps and other measures to challenge it.

Al-Qawasmi explained during an interview with Ofoq News that the General Elections Law - Article 2 of it - gives the president the power to issue a decree to set the date of the elections, but it does not give him, according to his interpretation, the power to cancel the set date or replace it with another date, because it is based on a restricted authority and not a discretionary authority, considering that postponing the elections affects the political and constitutional rights of citizens, and conflicts with the principle that the people are the source of authorities and the principle of the rule of law, which stipulates that all authorities, bodies and individuals are subject to the law, and the principle of separation of powers and contradicts the concept of democratic governance. The parliamentary system is based on the Palestinian political and legal system and the citizen’s right to elect a legislative council, a Palestinian president to represent him, and a national council.

He added that the Palestinian political and legal system is based on the right of the people to choose their representatives through elections and the peaceful transfer of authorities, and that disrupting this right deprives citizens of exercising their right to political participation and management of public affairs, stressing the need to respect electoral dates and adhere to the legal provisions regulating the electoral process, which is holding periodic presidential and legislative elections every four years, and a national council every three years.

The presidential decree issued on October 10, 2026 set September 11, 2027 as the date for holding the presidential and legislative elections simultaneously, and canceled the previous date for the legislative elections, which was scheduled for November 28, 2026.

Al-Qawasmi pointed out that the decree had not been published in the Official Gazette at the time of the interview, considering that the lack of publication raises a legal problem related to the immediacy of publication, the legal periodicity, and the completion of the formal procedures necessary for the enforcement of decrees and decisions, especially after the publication of the excellent issue (38) in the Official Gazette and its failure to secure the aforementioned decree. He also said that the Gathering had not, as of the time of the interview, received an official notification from the Central Elections Commission regarding the decree or the procedures resulting from it, especially since the All Palestinian Gathering had registered an electoral list to run in the legislative elections in accordance with the rules.

He called on the Central Elections Commission to assume its legal responsibilities in accordance with Article 13 of the General Elections Law, and to complete the electoral process based on previous dates and procedures, and to amend the timetable for its completion instead of leaving the political rights of citizens suspended, as he put it.

He stressed that the assembly is considering moving to take the necessary measures in order to preserve the political rights of the Palestinian citizen and the negative repercussions that affect the life of the citizen and the Palestinian national project, as they constitute legal and constitutional violations of the Palestinian Basic Law, the Declaration of Independence, the statute of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the international agreements and treaties to which the Palestinian Authority has joined, and the promises it has made to European and Arab countries and the Palestinian people.

Al-Qawasmi called on the president to direct the Central Elections Commission to continue the electoral process, and/or to set a date soon for holding the presidential and legislative elections, in a way that ensures the renewal of legitimacy through the ballot boxes, and restores to citizens their stolen right to choose their representatives.

He stressed the need to address the crisis experienced by the Palestinian people through legal and institutional paths, warning of the continued disruption of the elections and the resulting negative repercussions that affect Palestinian political life and the international political, material and public support that we desperately need.