Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Alliances forged ahead of first Palestinian elections in two decades

thenationalnews.com · 1hShare

Two months ahead of Palestine 's first legislative elections in two decades, several factions that once seemed to be on opposite sides of the political spectrum are forming unexpected alliances in an attempt to upset the status quo. The last Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections took place in 2006, securing a contested win for Hamas . Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas , who has been in office since 2005, had since announced legislative and presidential elections in 2021, but cancelled them, citing Israel's refusal to allow Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem to take part as the reason. Experts said he was taking the easy way out, after opinion polls had found a candidate list led by imprisoned Palestinian activist Marwan Barghouti would win the legislative elections. Energised by European and US pressure for reform exerted on the ruling Palestinian Authority (PA), which Mr Abbas heads, different political factions have expressed their desire to participate in the Novemb

First report: Palestinian factions explore broad alliance for November elections — aljazeera.com, 2d