Problems of the New Electoral System for the National Council

The electoral system for the Palestinian National Council of 2026, which President Mahmoud Abbas approved according to a statement from the Palestinian presidency, includes (1) defining the method for electing members of the National Council according to a full proportional representation system (lists); where the Palestinian territories are considered as a single electoral district, and each area where Palestinians live in the diaspora is considered an independent electoral district, (2) determining the number of members with 200 for the Palestinian territories "State of Palestine" and 150 for Palestinians in the diaspora, and (3) determining the relationship between the House of Representatives and the National Council to be based on functional integration and institutional coordination, while preserving the independence and competencies of each.

This announcement was not accompanied by the text of the approved system to view the details of the procedures "for the devil is in the details, as politicians say" defining the path for the desired political development from any electoral law for Palestinians. However, it seems that there are substantial and formal issues - which require discussion, consideration, investigation, and in-depth examination - that have shown some of their features in the leaked drafts of the electoral system for the Palestinian National Council related to the following:

First: Over nearly a year, the committee tasked by the presidency to prepare the electoral system held meetings with various sectors to hear their opinions and visions about the electoral system for the National Council. However, it did not present a written proposal for discussion and expressing opinions and positions on it.

Secondly: Although the statement did not specify the path for political participation or the necessary procedures to provide an opportunity to engage in the electoral process, the leaked version indicates that the system does not provide equal opportunities for citizens to access membership in the National Council and the House of Representatives, despite their different natures; membership in the National Council of the PLO is considered a condition to adhere to its political and national program, which is logical as it is a national front for liberation led by its members, while the state belongs to all its citizens. Political conditions on its voters and candidates for its legislative council are not acceptable as it cancels equal opportunities "as a constitutional principle" to allow access to centers of governance and representative institutions.

Thirdly: The issue of the intertwined relationship between the PLO institutions and state institutions has not been resolved; it has been kept without providing practical solutions. For example, what is the role of the political state institutions "President of the State and Minister of Foreign Affairs" in international relations compared to the President of the PLO and its related sectors regarding international affairs; such as representation in the United Nations, which recognized the State of Palestine as a member with full powers of states in practice, and who has supremacy in financial matters like the PLO existing as a responsible center in the state budget, and the powers of state institutions like the Audit Bureau, the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Courts of the State of Palestine over the PLO institutions. In contrast, the supremacy in governance and politics belongs to the PLO, and to what extent are state institutions committed to the decisions of the National and Central Councils and the Executive Committee by translating them into laws or policies; such as the issue of women’s quota that was not translated in the elections for local councils, where the government and the president approved a law that contradicts the decisions of the Central National Council, which specified that the representation of women in representative bodies should not be less than 30%, while the decision by law for the election of local councils in 2025 set a lower percentage, resulting in a representation of women not exceeding 25% in local council bodies.

Fourthly: The issue of the president of the organization and the president of the state; the matter here does not relate to powers, but to the mechanisms of their production and their status in the Palestinian political system; the president of the organization is chosen from among the members of the Executive Committee, theoretically elected by the elected members of the National Council, meaning that the members are already elected, while the president of the state is directly elected and separate from the members of the House of Representatives according to the published draft constitution, and thus he is not a member of the House of Representatives according to the formula in the electoral system, so how will he be a member of the National Council for the Palestinian territories. Likewise, who will have supremacy, especially if the president of the organization and the president of the state are two different individuals, which is an inevitable matter according to this system; members of the Executive Committee are no longer members of the National Council by virtue of their position, unless under one condition that the president of the organization is from the diaspora and runs in the Palestinian territories as president of the State of Palestine in the Palestinian territories.

Fifthly: This system practically contradicts what is stated in the General Elections Law No. 1 of 2007 and its amendments, which stipulate the election of the President of the State of Palestine / President of the PLO by the Palestinian people in the Palestinian territories directly.

Sixthly: The path followed in this system is the opposite of the path followed over the past fourteen years, where the organization and its institutions were integrated into the state after elevating the status of Palestine to a monitored state at the United Nations. However, this system limits a path that integrates the state into the organization, meaning prioritizing the means of national struggle over the goal of the Palestinian national struggle.

Reviewing these problems and observations and examining them is contingent upon publishing the electoral system for the National Council and the Palestinian House of Representatives. However, these observations may open a discussion that has been absent, or not given the necessary importance, or that dealing with it was in political calculations meant to avoid stirring political sensitivities, or to set the path for Palestinians in the same existing political direction based on the duality of Palestinian institutions.