https://arab.news/22f5j
In a surprising political development, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday announced that elections for the Palestinian National Council — the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization — will be held before the end of 2025. This is the first time such a step has been taken since the council’s inception in Jerusalem in 1964. The announcement, made through the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, stipulates that 350 representatives will be elected: two-thirds from within the Occupied Territories and one-third from the diaspora.
On the surface, this declaration may appear like a long-overdue democratic revival. But its timing raises critical questions. Why now? Why in the midst of the most brutal and prolonged war on Gaza since 1948 — a war that has claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 2 million? What purpose do elections serve when a large portion of the Palestinian people is either starving, under bombardment or buried under the rubble of their homes?
One cannot separate Abbas’ announcement from the broader political landscape. The PLO has long suffered from a legitimacy crisis. For years, the Palestinian Authority has governed parts of the West Bank under Israeli occupation, while Hamas has controlled Gaza since the 2006 legislative elections — ironically, the last time a national vote took place. That rift has rendered Palestinian politics fractured and paralyzed, with no clear roadmap for unity, nor for meaningful resistance.
