Al-Tamimi to Ofoq News: It is time to implement the Consensus Legislative Council initiative

Hebron - Ofoq News - Abdul Halim Shawar Al-Tamimi confirmed that the time has come to re-present his initiative calling for the formation of a temporary consensual legislative council, with the renewal of the Palestinian elections crisis, following the issuance of a presidential decree, today, Saturday, calling for holding simultaneous presidential and legislative elections on September 11, 2027.

Al-Tamimi said, in an interview with "Ofoq News", that the current circumstances call for a return to the initiative he presented in April 2021, which sought to provide a way out of the crisis in which it was impossible to hold elections at that time, and to address the absence of the Legislative Council and the continued Palestinian division.

On April 28, 2021, Ofok News Agency published Abdul Halim Shawar Al-Tamimi’s proposal, which was based on the electoral movement that preceded the postponement of the elections that year, calling for benefiting from registered lists and candidates to form a consensual legislative council, according to the rule of proportionality and proportionality between electoral lists.

The initiative was based, according to what Al-Tamimi reported at the time, on registering 36 electoral lists, which included 1,389 candidates, including 60 candidates from the city of Jerusalem, proposing to select 132 members of the Legislative Council from among the registered candidates, taking into account the proportional representation of the lists.

He suggested that Palestinian lists, factions, parties, and political movements agree on the formation of the council, and that a decree law be issued regulating its work, with a term of one calendar year.

One year to heal the split

According to the initiative, the proposed consensus legislative council will, during its term, contribute to the formation of a true national unity government, unify the Palestinian government, and restore institutions that have been afflicted by division, in addition to addressing the outstanding issues related to parliamentary life, the government constitution, and the bodies of public affairs.

Today, the initiative returns to discussion following the issuance of a presidential decree calling on the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to participate in free and direct presidential and legislative elections, simultaneously on September 11, 2027, after canceling the previous decree that called for legislative elections to be held on November 28, 2026.

Between consensus and elections

The revival of the initiative raises questions about the possibility of benefiting from previous or recently registered electoral lists to run in the postponed elections, in formulating a political and legal solution to the crisis, and the limits of the role that a temporary consensus council can play in restoring parliamentary life and unifying Palestinian institutions.

The initiative also raises a discussion about the legal basis for forming such a council, the mechanisms for selecting its members, guarantees of fair representation of political forces, and the nature of the relationship between any consensual arrangement and general elections.

Implementing the initiative remains linked to the extent of political and legal consensus on it, how to determine the powers and duration of the proposed council, and ensuring that the temporary arrangement does not turn into a permanent alternative to elections and resorting to the will of voters.

With Abdul Halim Shawar Al-Tamimi confirming that the time has come for his initiative, the question returns to the forces, factions, electoral lists and constitutional experts: Can the proposal form the basis for a national dialogue on restoring legislative life and unifying institutions, in parallel with the efforts aimed at holding elections on the announced date?