Statement Issued by the Civil Coalition for Election Monitoring
No to Postponement
Elections Are a Right of the People, Not a Grant That Can Be Withdrawn
The Civil Coalition for Election Monitoring is following with grave concern the growing calls to postpone the legislative elections scheduled for 28 November 2026. The Coalition firmly rejects any attempt to disrupt or postpone this electoral process under any pretext.
Nearly two decades have passed since the last legislative elections, during which an entire generation has grown up without having the opportunity to choose those who represent them. The experience of 2021, when elections were cancelled after voters had registered and electoral lists had been nominated, remains vivid in the public memory and has deepened the crisis of trust between citizens and their institutions. Repeating this scenario would not merely constitute a postponement of a date; it would represent another blow to what remains of the legitimacy of the political system.
The Facts on the Ground Say: Elections Are Possible
The Central Elections Commission, the legally competent body responsible for administering the electoral process and assessing its readiness, regularly announces that it is steadily moving towards Election Day and has overcome the obstacles it has faced, including those related to the Gaza Strip. The Commission has issued the necessary tenders, received bids from companies for the production of ballot papers and ballot boxes, and recruited its electoral staff in the Strip. Accordingly, any claim that it is impossible to hold the elections contradicts the statements of the responsible technical body and is not based on professional assessments, but rather on political calculations. We emphasize that the decision regarding technical readiness rests with the Elections Commission, not with any political party seeking postponement.
Based on the above, the Coalition affirms the following:
First: Holding the elections on time is a legal obligation and an inherent right.
Holding the elections on schedule is a legal obligation under the presidential decree and an inherent right of citizens. No party may decide on behalf of the people when they are entitled to exercise their will.
Second: Elections are a national necessity in confronting external tutelage.
In light of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 concerning the Gaza Strip, which endorsed transitional governance arrangements for the Strip under the supervision of a “Board of Peace,” and linked the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza and the opening of a pathway towards self-determination and statehood to reforms in its institutions, elections have become an urgent national necessity, not a political luxury that can be postponed.
Renewed legitimacy through the ballot box is the Palestinian response to any arrangements imposed from outside, and the path towards restoring independent national decision-making and reunifying the West Bank and the Gaza Strip under unified, elected institutions. Any reform that does not pass through the will of the voters will remain a formal reform determined by external actors. Accordingly, postponing the elections at this moment would leave the door open to projects of external tutelage and entrench the separation of Gaza from the West Bank, rather than allowing Palestinians to have their say in determining who represents them and manages their affairs.
Third: Agreement on the rules, not on the results.
We value calls for national consensus to ensure respect for the results of the elections. However, linking the elections to prior comprehensive consensus would make them hostage to a condition that has not been achieved throughout the years of division. Ensuring commitment to the results can be achieved through an electoral code of honour signed by all political forces before Election Day, containing an explicit commitment to accept the results, ensure the peaceful transfer of power, and resort to the Elections Court in the event of any challenge. Elections are not the opposite of reconciliation; they are its shortest path.
Fourth: Integrity is safeguarded through local monitoring, not postponement.
We condemn the denial of access to the Gaza Strip to international observers and call for pressure to be exerted to lift this ban. However, this does not make the holding of fair elections impossible. Independent local monitoring by civil society organizations, electoral list agents, and journalists is an essential safeguard that has demonstrated its effectiveness in previous Palestinian elections. Civil society organizations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have the personnel and volunteers capable of covering all polling stations in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Fifth: The occupation has no veto over our will.
The refusal of the occupying authorities to grant permits to staff of the Elections Commission is evidence that they do not want these elections to take place, making adherence to the elections a national act in itself. The presence of Commission staff already working inside the Strip makes this obstruction capable of being overcome. What is required is to publicly hold the occupation responsible for any obstruction and to call upon sponsoring states and mediators to intervene immediately, rather than bearing its consequences ourselves through a decision to postpone the elections.
Sixth: Jerusalem is at the heart of the electoral struggle.
The occupation's obstruction of the participation of Jerusalemites must be confronted by insisting on their participation and by adopting alternative voting mechanisms, turning Election Day into a political and popular confrontation in the city, rather than allowing it to be used as a pretext for disruption, as happened in 2021.
Seventh: We call upon all political forces and factions to publicly declare their commitment to the date of the elections; the Central Elections Commission to continue informing the public about the stages of its readiness; and the international community to exert pressure on the occupying authorities to prevent them from obstructing the electoral process.
A people that pays the price of its steadfastness every day deserves to choose its leadership for itself. There can be no renewal of legitimacy without the ballot box, and no genuine national unity without respecting the will of the people.
Palestine, 8 October 2026
Civil Coalition for Election Monitoring
• Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR)
• Arab World Democracy and Elections Monitor (Al-Marsad)
• Civil Committee for Election Monitoring
• Coalition for Integrity and Accountability – AMAN
• Center for Media and Human Rights and Democracy – SHAMS
• Thabat Center
• Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center
• Al-Najdah Social Association for the Development of Palestinian Women
• Civil Commission for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law – Istiqlal
• Al-Haq
• Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Legal Profession and Judiciary – MIFTAH/MUSAWA
• Palestinian Initiative for the Deepening of Global Dialogue and Democracy – MIFTAH
• Center for the Defense of Freedoms and Civil Rights
• Palestinian Center for Peace and Democracy Issues
• Palestinian Foundation for Empowerment and Local Development – Reform
• Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development
• Palestinian Authority for Media and Youth Activation – PYALARA
• Sharek Youth