The International Commission ICSPR Issues a Position Paper on the Draft Temporary Constitution and National Council Elections: What National Project Do We Want Amid Genocide and Colonial Annexation?
Date: February 15, 2026
Press Release
ICSPR: Constituent Elections for the National Council Are the Vital Gateway to Rebuilding the Palestinian National Project and Protecting Rights Amid Genocide and Annexation
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights – ICSPR issued a comprehensive position paper entitled “Draft Temporary Constitution and National Council Elections: What National Project Do We Want Amid Genocide and Colonial Annexation?”, prepared by the Commission’s President, Salah Abdel Ati. The paper provides a political, constitutional, and rights-based analysis of the draft constitution and the priorities for rebuilding the Palestinian political system.
The paper emphasized that presenting the constitution at this sensitive stage cannot be viewed as a technical issue, but as a political and existential question concerning the future of the national project, the legitimacy of Palestinian institutions, and the urgent need to confront existential threats, including the ongoing genocide in Gaza and annexation and settlement operations in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Abdel Ati stressed that any constitutional path must begin with rebuilding representative legitimacy through comprehensive elections for the National Council, including all Palestinians at home and abroad, as the sole body authorized to adopt the constitution, approve the national program, elect a unified national leadership, and regulate the relationship between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Authority.
The paper warned that the current draft, prepared by unilateral presidential decree, risks shifting from a tool of liberation to an instrument for managing the crisis, due to the absence of parliamentary oversight, weak judicial independence, lack of transitional justice mechanisms, and the potential suspension of rights and freedoms under the pretext of security or emergencies.
Abdel Ati also highlighted the draft’s failure to address the reality of occupation and its impact on sovereignty, as well as its omission of a comprehensive framework for national rights, including the right of return, protection of prisoners and martyrs, and accountability for perpetrators of international crimes.
The paper stressed that comprehensive elections constitute the true guarantee of the constitution’s legitimacy, and that holding them under restrictive conditions or without full participation of Palestinians would merely reproduce the crisis under constitutional cover, whereas constituent national elections represent a historic opportunity to rebuild the national project, strengthen national unity, and protect fundamental rights.
In conclusion, the paper called for linking the constitution to an inclusive national process, incorporating broad dialogue, full societal participation, the establishment of an elected National Council, and the adoption of a constitution as a tool for liberation, sovereignty, and genuine transitional and social justice, ensuring that the Palestinian constitution becomes a means to rebuild the state and protect the Palestinian people, rather than a mere formal document.
