Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced parliamentary and presidential elections, the first in 15 years, in an effort to heal long-standing internal divisions.
The move is widely seen as a response to criticism of the democratic legitimacy of Palestinian political institutions, including Abbas’s presidency.
It also comes days before the inauguration of US President-elect Joe Biden, with whom the Palestinians want to reset relations after they reached a low under President Donald Trump.
According to a decree issued by Abbas’s office on Friday, the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, will hold legislative elections on May 22 and a presidential vote on July 31.
Palestinian factions have renewed reconciliation efforts to try to present a united front since Israel reached diplomatic agreements last year with four Arab countries.
Those accords dismayed Palestinians and left them increasingly isolated in a region that has seen allegiances shift to reflect shared fears of Iran by Israel and Sunni-led Gulf Arab states.
Read the article by Sawafta and Nidal al-Mughrabi and Rami Ayyub in The Canberra Times.