Mahmoud Abbas postpones Palestinian legislative elections to September 2027

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued an official decree on October 9, 2026, to postpone elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council. Courthouse News Service, Al Jazeera, Le Monde, The National, Al-Monitor, and Haaretz all reported that the voting was pushed back almost another year to September 11, 2027. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

The legislative vote had been scheduled to take place next month, according to an Associated Press report published by Courthouse News Service. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA confirmed that the new decree sets the postponed vote for September 2027. [1]

The decree further extends a long delay in Palestinian elections. Legislative elections have not occurred in nearly 20 years, while presidential elections have been delayed for more than two decades, Courthouse News Service reported. [1]

Abbas was born in Safed in Mandatory Palestine before fleeing with his family to Syria during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He studied law in Damascus and earned a doctorate in history from Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow in 1982. [7]