West Bank24 September, 20263 min read
Popular Congress for Palestinian Expatriates Rejects National Council Appointments, Demands Elections
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Conference of Palestinians Abroad rejects National Council appointment procedures, calls for elections. More than 1,000 Palestinian figures sign petition for an elected National Council.
Istanbul Rejects Appointments
The General Secretariat of the Popular Congress for Palestinian Expatriates rejected the procedures for appointing members of the Palestinian National Council and called for democratic elections that express the universal popular will. Hisham Abu Muhfouz, Acting Secretary-General of the Popular Congress for Palestinian Expatriates, said the conference “rejects the appointments to the Palestinian National Council,” and he affirmed the illegitimacy of the council if it insists on forming through appointments, exclusion, and preconditions. The conference announced a mobilization campaign that includes political and legal outreach, submitting memorandums and petitions, and organizing popular events to oppose the procedures.
Siman Khouri, Chairman of the Union of Palestinians in Latin America and Head of the General Authority of the Popular Congress for Palestinian Expatriates, said the Palestinian diaspora “is not a margin in the national project,” and he called for free and comprehensive elections for the National Council. The conference warned of escalating Israeli violations in Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Islamic and Christian holy sites while it linked its demands to the “plans for annexation” and the crimes of settlers in the West Bank.
Petition Demands Elected PNC
More than 1,000 people signed a Palestinian petition calling for the Palestinian National Council to be elected rather than formed through appointments, according to a document reviewed by Al-Arab in UK. The Palestinian National Authority for Popular Action launched the petition in August 2026 under the slogan “No legitimacy through appointment, and no representation without elections.” The petition placed Palestinians in the diaspora, including those living in Britain, at the centre of efforts to renew national representation and it demanded free, fair and inclusive elections that allow Palestinians to choose their representatives.
The document recorded participation from Palestinians in Damascus and surrounding areas, including the Yarmouk, al-Husseiniya, Sbeineh and Khan al-Shih communities, as well as Tal Shihab and al-Muzayrib in southern Syria. The petition rejected postponing elections or using appointments in their place, whether on the basis of organisational positions, administrative roles or a political fait accompli.
Syria Rejects Seat Allocation
Nine Palestinian institutions and more than 50 independent figures from Palestinians in Syria rejected the current mechanism for managing the elections of the Palestinian National Council, based on Presidential Decree No. (2) of 2026.
The signatories warned that the elections could become a mere formality based on appointments and factional quotas, and they said the proposed distribution of seats, 200 for the inside/West Bank and 150 for the outside/ Diaspora, was not fair to Palestinians in the diaspora.
The statement called for adopting secret and direct voting as the basis for selecting council members and rejected appointments as a substitute for elections.
The signatories urged a political and institutional separation between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, to restore the PLO as an inclusive and independent framework for the Palestinian people.
Mohammed Shtayyeh, a member of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement, told the new European Union representative to Palestine, Ambassador Andreas Fiedler, that Europe should exert pressure on Israel to allow Palestinian elections to take place in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.