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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at a meeting in Ramallah on October 3, 2019. ABBAS MOMANI / AFP

The announcement was made at the United Nations podium last September. During his speech before the UN General Assembly, Mahmoud Abbas expressed his intention to organize legislative and presidential elections in the Palestinian Territories. They would be the first for 13 years.

From our correspondent in Jerusalem , Guilhem Delteil

The obstacles remain numerous but the president of the Election Commission obtained the agreement of the factions. Between the end of September and the beginning of December, Hanna Nasr multiplied the round trips between Ramallah and Gaza. He was in charge of negotiations for the organization of legislative and presidential elections. He met with the main Palestinian factions, but above all he had to find common ground between the Fatah of President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

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Finally, last week, Hanna Nasr wrote to the president of the Palestinian Authority announcing that he had obtained the factions' agreement. In particular, Hamas has made several concessions. He accepted the principle of two-stage elections, first legislative elections and then a presidential election. It also validated a proportional system for legislative elections, which would however be less favorable to it than a single-member system.

Now the president of the Palestinian Authority must sign a decree fixing the dates of the election. Mahmoud Abbas, like his Prime Minister, Mohamed Shtayyeh, talks about legislative elections in the " coming months ". The perspective remains blurred. " But the possibility of elections has never been as strong as it is today, " said Khalil Shikaki, professor of political science and director of the main Palestinian polling institute.

Thirteen years since a poll has not been held

This time, the electoral process seems to be advancing more than in previous attempts. It has been thirteen years since a national election has been held in the Palestinian Territories. Parliament is no longer in session and Mahmoud Abbas is in the fourteenth year of a four-year term. Since 2007, the political division between Fatah and Hamas , and geographical between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, is such that any attempt at polling on the whole of the Territories failed.

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When he announced his intention to organize elections last September, Mahmoud Abbas stressed that he believed that this was the only way to move towards Palestinian reconciliation. Today, Mahmoud Abbas is perceived on the international scene as a weakened leader, having lost control of part of his territory. Palestinian reconciliation is officially deemed essential to confront the Netanyahu-Trump alliance.

But thirteen years after the last national election, Fatah and Hamas above all both need to regain legitimacy. The first wishes to avoid a "Palestinian spring" while the protest movements have spread in recent months to Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq. The second wishes to reintegrate into the political process after being marginalized by its seizure of power in the Gaza Strip in 2007. Hamas wishes in particular to integrate the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization which represents all Palestinians, including including those living outside the Territories.

Guarantees on the independence of elections

However, the prospect of the election remains uncertain: there are still many obstacles to overcome. Before any election, there should be a meeting between the leaders of the Palestinian factions. Several points of divergence remain to be resolved. This is the case, for example, of the court which will be responsible for arbitrating any possible post-elections. Hamas considers that the court responsible for these cases is in the pay of Mahmoud Abbas. The question is sensitive, it is on this point that the Islamist movement supported its refusal to participate in the municipal elections of 2017.

As for Fatah, it also demands guarantees on the independence of the elections in the Gaza Strip: who will be responsible for the control of the ballot boxes and the counting in this territory controlled by its adversary.

But one of the keys to these elections is also in the hands of Israel. Mahmoud Abbas has officially written to ask the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to let the Palestinian Authority organize the elections in East Jerusalem. This part of the city is claimed by the Palestinians as the capital of their future state but has been annexed by Israel. However, Fatah and Hamas are both in agreement: there can be no Palestinian elections without East Jerusalem, they say. The Israeli government authorized the vote in previous Palestinian elections, but did not vote this time.