Assaf to "Filastin": Elections are a right of our people, and their absence led to unilateral decision-making and the exclusion of generations

Political activist Omar Assaf says that elections are an inherent right of the Palestinian people, and their absence led to the leadership's unilateral decision-making and the exclusion of generations from political participation. He warns of the dangers of postponing elections again as happened in 2021, and points to the formation of electoral alliances that include national, Islamic, and independent forces and figures.

Political activist Omar Assaf, one of the participants in an alliance being formed to contest the legislative elections, says that holding elections represents an inherent right of the Palestinian people, stressing that the problem lies in the absence of elections, not in holding them. Assaf adds that the elections, which have been delayed for many years, allow the people to choose their leadership, emphasizing that no one may confiscate this right. The legislative elections are scheduled to be held by the end of November 2026, for the first time since the January 2006 elections won by Hamas. Assaf considers that depriving the people of choosing their leadership has led to a leadership that is unilateral in decision-making and unable to withstand pressures, along with the exclusion of entire generations from political participation. He warns of the dangers of postponing elections again as happened in 2021, expressing his fear that the Palestinian Authority might resort to canceling or postponing the elections under the weight of the political impasse. He points to the formation of electoral alliances that include national, Islamic, and independent forces and figures, and that the alliance he is helping to prepare will contest the elections with its own list and political line based on adherence to resistance as a right and confronting the measures of the Authority's leadership.