Palestinian Factions Reject Palestinian Authority Appointment, Exclusion in National Council Formation

Palestinian factions and forces rejected what they described as “appointment and exclusion” by the Palestinian Authority in the process of forming the Palestinian National Council, calling for “returning the electoral process to its correct national path through consensus on a unified election law and mechanisms.”

“rejected what they described as the “appointment and exclusion””

Al-Araby al-Jadid

The dispute is playing out as President Mahmoud Abbas set Palestinian legislative elections by decree for November 28, with the sources saying that if held they would be the first legislative elections since 2006.

Akhbarak Net

Al Jazeera Net’s “Behind the News” episode on September 9, 2026 examined how ready the Palestinian Authority is to engage positively with factions’ statements about the ongoing electoral process, in light of accusations of reliance on appointments, exclusion, and monopolizing decision-making.

The Al-Araby al-Jadid report says WAFA reported “election” of representatives for Palestinian communities in the National Council under an electoral college system in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, which the factions considered a fait accompli imposed away from internal and national understandings.A

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said on Wednesday that the movement is surprised by statements from Palestinian Authority leaders about the possibility of postponing the Palestinian Legislative Council elections, and he emphasized the need to hold them on time.

Qassem described talk of postponing the elections as “a sign of the Authority’s continuing approach of tampering with the issue of elections,” and he said it is unacceptable for the Palestinian political system to be held hostage by the leaders of a particular faction.

Al-Jazeera Net

In a joint statement, factions said they are following with “great concern the ongoing procedures to reconstitute the Palestinian National Council,” and they warned that practices accompanying the process “contradict the foundations of national partnership and democracy.”

The statement also said the factions “strongly reject these practices that institutionalize appointment over elections, exclusion over partnership, and unilateralism over national consensus,” framing the issue as one of legitimacy and representation for Palestinians at home and in the diaspora.

Across the sources, the factions’ demand centers on stopping appointment-based reconstitution of the Palestinian National Council and returning to a unified electoral path, with calls for “a unified law and mechanisms for elections” and participation for Palestinians wherever they reside.

“demanded an immediate halt to these measures and a return to comprehensive national dialogue”

وكالة سبأ

The Al-Jazeera Net report says the factions urged consensus on a unified law and election mechanisms that enable Palestinians in all places of existence to participate, “foremost among them Palestinian refugees in Arab countries and diaspora communities.”A

The Saba report says the factions demanded the restoration of the electoral process through the approval of “a unified electoral law and mechanisms that guarantee the participation of Palestinians wherever they reside,” and it links the dispute to the “ongoing Zionist aggression against our people, our land, our sacred places, and our national rights.”

In the same Saba statement, the factions said they held the Palestinian leadership and PLO executive bodies “politically and nationally accountable” for repercussions of the procedures, and they demanded an “immediate halt” and a return to “comprehensive national dialogue” to rebuild PLO institutions on “democratic and participatory foundations.”