Media reports as well as statements by President Abbas, Fatah and Hamas leaders indicate that Palestinian factions have agreed to hold elections in January 2010, even if agreements on other issues have not yet been reached. In fact, reports from the Cairo reconciliation negotiations, where Palestinian factions are working to resolve a host of difficult issues including the elections for the president of the Palestinian National Authority and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), state that the leaders have agreed to hold elections no later than on January 24, 2010.

Recent opinion polls suggest that Palestinians feel the government must go through elections in January 2010 to retain legitimacy. These would be the elections following the 2005 presidential and the 2006 legislative elections that resulted in the presidency of Mahmoud Abbas and a majority win in parliament for Hamas.

There are, however, various contextual challenges that make the holding of elections in January 2010 far from certain. IFES-West Bank & Gaza has released a briefing paper highlighting the challenges to the 2010 Palestinian Elections. The paper does not predict whether it will be possible to overcome the issues before the 2010 election or whether the election will have to be postponed. It merely sheds light on the challenges themselves. The paper can be viewed here.

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