PA President promises frequently canceled elections will be held in 2027, does not establish date

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the PA's presidential elections, which have frequently been canceled, will be held in 2027, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Sunday citing a statement from the presidency.

The announcement did not provide any specific date for the elections but came amid amendments to the law for general elections. In the decree of the amendments, Abbas said he was “fully prepared to organize the Palestinian National Council elections scheduled for November, which include the general legislative elections in the homeland and elections abroad.” 

The PA had previously announced legislative elections, scheduled for November, as part of the process for forming a Palestinian constitution. During that announcement, Abbas also said that presidential elections could come later this year. 

The Palestinian Authority has not held presidential elections since Abbas was elected to a four-year term in 2005. The 90-year-old president has ruled by decree since those elections. 

The last time the PA held legislative elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), in 2006, Hamas defeated Abbas’ Fatah party. The PLC has not met since 2007. 

Abbas has frequently promised to hold both presidential and legislative elections since then, but the elections have been postponed repeatedly, with the PA often citing as a reason Israeli restrictions, particularly the absence of guarantees that voting could take place in East Jerusalem.

Many analysts believe the PA does not want to hold elections, which they believe will result in a landslide victory for Hamas. 

The international community, particularly the European Union and the United States, has demanded reforms by the PA, including elections, as a condition for continued financial support. 

In April, Palestinians voted in municipal elections for the first time since the start of the Oct. 7 Gaza War. 

In June of 2025, Abbas promised French President Emmanuel Macron that the PA would hold legislative and presidential elections within 12 months as part of a package of political reforms intended to restore legitimacy to Palestinian institutions. 

In the Palestinian territories, Abbas is an unpopular figure. A poll conducted by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 80% of Palestinian residents in Judea and Samaria, as well as Gaza, want him to resign. 

The same survey found that 60% of Palestinians did not believe that Abbas would keep his promise to hold presidential elections. 

Samer Sinijlawi, a Fatah political leader and president of the Jerusalem Development Fund, told the Jerusalem Post that Abbas has a history of disappointing Palestinians with election promises. 

“In 2021, President Mahmoud Abbas not only announced elections but also issued a presidential decree setting specific dates, only to cancel the process weeks before voting was due to begin, when it became increasingly apparent that the official Fatah list faced a serious risk to its parliamentary majority,” Sinijlawi said. 

“This time, the announcement is even less specific,” Sinijlawi noted. “No election date has been provided, no presidential decree has been issued, and no timetable has been presented for either the legislative or presidential elections.”