Dr. Salah Abdel Ati Palestinian Elections Are a Constitutional Right That Cannot Be Suspended by Factional Agreements Restoring the People’s Decision-Making Power Is the Foundation for Rebuilding the Political System
Date: 10 October 2026
Press Release
Dr. Salah Abdel Ati: Palestinian Elections Are a Constitutional Right That Cannot Be Suspended by Factional Agreements Restoring the People’s Decision-Making Power Is the Foundation for Rebuilding the Political System
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) has issued a political and strategic position paper prepared by Dr. Salah Abdel Ati, titled “Palestinian Elections Between Constitutional Rights and the Re-engineering of the Political System: From Managing Obstacles to Restoring the People’s Decision-Making Power and Re-establishing the Palestinian National System.” The paper warns against electoral postponement becoming a mechanism for perpetuating the status quo and calls for protecting Palestinians’ right to choose their representatives, hold them accountable, and replace them as part of a process of renewing legitimacy and unifying institutions.
In the paper, Dr. Salah Abdel Ati affirms that the electoral crisis extends beyond the timing of voting to deeper questions about the source of legitimacy, the nature of authority, and who has the right to determine the future of the Palestinian political system. He stresses that elections are an inherent constitutional and political right, not a concession from the leadership or a reward granted by factions when they reach agreement.
The paper rejects indefinite postponement and upholds the need for legislative and presidential elections and the democratic rebuilding of the Palestinian National Council and the Palestine Liberation Organization. It also calls for confronting Israeli restrictions through a practical national plan, rather than turning them into a justification for suspending citizens’ right to choose indefinitely.
Consensus Does Not Replace a Popular Mandate
In discussing political understandings concerning the postponement of elections, Dr. Salah Abdel Ati stresses the need to distinguish between an understanding to postpone, the completion of formal procedures, and the establishment of an alternative date with binding guarantees for implementation. He affirms that any discussion of postponement must be guided by the protection of electoral rights, not by competing political forces’ interests or fears about the results.
The paper explains that factions can agree on the rules of competition, safeguards for electoral integrity, and mechanisms for managing a transitional period. They cannot, however, turn such agreements into an open-ended mandate to suspend the people’s right to choose their representatives. Legitimacy, according to the paper, derives from respecting the popular will, not from leaders agreeing to postpone seeking it.
Abdel Ati stresses that national dialogue and elections are not conflicting processes: dialogue can address major disagreements, while elections provide a popular mandate to form institutions and manage differences. He warns against making agreement on every national issue a precondition for voting, thereby allowing each party to obstruct elections on the grounds that understandings remain incomplete.
He also distinguishes between consensus on the rules of competition and consensus on its outcomes. What is required, he argues, is electoral integrity, equal opportunities, respect for rights, and acceptance of the results—not prior agreement on who should win.
Exceptional Postponement Requires Safeguards
The paper examines the consequences of suspending elections for many years. It notes that these extend beyond the absence of an elected legislative institution to weakened oversight of the executive, declining trust in institutions, a widening gap between society and decision-making centres, and a reduced ability for citizens to influence policies affecting their lives.
In this context, Dr. Salah argues that the experience of postponing elections in 2021 illustrates the danger of postponement without a binding timetable and safeguards ensuring that the process resumes. He warns that repeated postponement, even under different justifications, may reproduce the same outcome.
He affirms that holding elections must be the rule. Any exceptional postponement must be limited and justified by publicly stated reasons subject to review, and accompanied by a binding alternative date, implementation guarantees, and accountability. Indefinite postponement, he argues, effectively perpetuates the existing mandate and deprives citizens of their right to accountability and change.
Confronting Israeli Restrictions Rather Than Accepting Them
In addressing the Israeli obstacle, Dr. Salah Abdel Ati affirms that the occupation imposes severe restrictions on movement, communication, and public activity and can obstruct voting in Jerusalem and electoral campaigns in Gaza and the West Bank. He stresses, however, that acknowledging these restrictions does not mean granting the occupation a permanent veto over Palestinian democratic life.
The paper explains that Israel’s responsibility for preventing elections is distinct from Palestinian actors’ responsibility for responding to that obstruction. What is required is a shift from accepting elections as impossible to developing a political, legal, diplomatic, and procedural plan that safeguards the broadest possible participation.
The paper proposes tasking the Central Elections Commission, in cooperation with independent legal and technical experts, with examining suitable alternatives, including electronic registration and electronic voting where feasible, in accordance with the law and strict safeguards for identity verification, ballot secrecy, the integrity of results, and independent auditing. It stresses that these proposals require professional assessment and do not replace the need to ensure participation in Jerusalem and Gaza.
It also calls for a clear protocol to address partial or comprehensive obstruction, preserving the unity of the electoral process and equality among citizens and preventing technical difficulties from being used to justify open-ended political decisions.
Rejecting the Restructuring of Power Without Voters
In analysing the balance of power, Dr. Salah Abdel Ati argues that discussions of postponement cannot be separated from interests in preserving existing positions and fears of a redistribution of power. He affirms that concerns about any electoral list or individual winning do not justify depriving citizens of their choice.
The paper warns against national dialogue becoming a tool for re-engineering the political system before elections through legitimising appointments, changing the rules of representation, or reshaping institutions to preserve particular centres of influence.
Abdel Ati explains that concerns about election results or post-election division should be addressed through legal and political guarantees to respect voters’ will, clear rules for forming a government, and a commitment to peaceful transfers of power—not by preventing voting.
The paper affirms that replacing individuals is insufficient if the rules that produced the crisis remain unchanged. It calls for re-establishing the system on the basis of the separation of powers, judicial independence and independent oversight, equality before the law, shared decision-making, and preventing the monopolisation of representation or the use of public institutions to serve a faction or individual.
Gaza Is Part of Democratic Renewal
In addressing the situation in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Salah argues that administrative recovery and the restoration of services cannot replace renewed legitimacy. Transitional arrangements must not become a permanent parallel authority or a means of keeping Gaza outside a unified Palestinian political system.
The paper calls for defining the powers of any transitional body administering Gaza, its relationship with ministries and national institutions, coordination and accountability mechanisms, the duration of its work, and how its responsibilities will be transferred to unified Palestinian institutions. It also warns against a prolonged, unresolved transition in which administrative arrangements remain unsettled, elections are not held, and institutions are not unified.
Abdel Ati affirms that concerns about the neutrality of security agencies must be addressed through professional and impartial arrangements in Gaza and the West Bank. These must prevent interference with voters and candidates, ensure equal opportunities, and remain subject to the law and independent oversight, rather than being used to justify indefinite postponement.
He stresses that Gaza is not a separate administrative matter, but an essential part of the national system that must be unified and have its legitimacy renewed, while establishing the conditions and alternatives necessary to ensure citizens’ participation in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem.
Through the paper, ICSPR affirms that restoring the people’s decision-making power is a prerequisite for rebuilding trust in institutions and strengthening national capacity to confront the occupation. It calls for protecting electoral rights, opening space for participation, accountability, and change, and preventing exceptional circumstances from becoming a permanent basis for governance.
Dr. Salah Abdel Ati concludes that the question is not whether conditions are ideal for holding elections, but how this right can be protected under existing conditions and what safeguards can prevent postponement from becoming a substitute for democracy. He affirms that rebuilding the Palestinian system begins with respecting the people as the source of authority and the holders of the right to determine their future.
