RAMALLAH, ISRAELI OCCUPIED WEST BANK, 22 July. - (ANA) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is preparing to amend the Palestinian election law to restore the Palestinian Legislative Council to its previous 132-seat composition, in a move that could prevent imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti from becoming head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), The New Arab has learned.

 

The proposed amendment would reverse a decree issued by Abbas last month expanding the Legislative Council to 200 members, while creating 68 additional Palestinian National Council seats for representatives from the occupied Palestinian territories.

 

Under the proposal, those 68 National Council members would be chosen by "consensus" rather than election, according to two Palestinian officials familiar with the plans. Under the current Palestinian political system, "consensus" is widely understood to mean appointment.

 

The officials said only members of the National Council would be eligible to seek the chairmanship of the PLO Executive Committee, the body's highest office. If Barghouti is not among the 68 appointed members, he would be unable to become PLO chairman even if he were elected president of the Palestinian Authority.

 

Constitutional law expert Rashad Tuam told The New Arab that the proposed amendment, if enacted, "will be exploited in political conflicts to block the candidacy of imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti for the presidency of the Palestine Liberation Organisation".

 

The amendments have not yet been officially announced. Abbas remains in Jordan after travelling from Qatar, where he offered condolences following the death of Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

 

Explaining the rationale behind the changes, one Palestinian official told The New Arab that several institutions and sectors would otherwise struggle to secure representation through Legislative Council elections.

 

"There are bodies and institutions inside the country that will not have representation in the Legislative Council and are unlikely to participate in the elections, so this formula guarantees their participation.

 

"Secondly, members of the security sector are barred from participating in Legislative Council elections, while they are a fundamental component of the National Council.

 

"In addition, there are some political forces that are unlikely to gain representation in the Legislative Council elections.

 

"Therefore, the proposed amendment allows all those previously mentioned to be represented in the National Council while also reducing Legislative Council costs, because increasing its membership from 132 to 200 would significantly increase expenditure."

 

According to the two officials, the proposed legal amendments would restore the Legislative Council to 132 elected members, while allocating an additional 68 National Council seats to representatives from the occupied Palestinian territories.

 

Under the proposal, those 68 members would also be eligible to run for both the presidency of the Palestinian Authority and the chairmanship of the PLO, allowing one individual to hold both offices simultaneously.

 

However, because the 68 National Council members would be appointed by consensus rather than elected, critics say the process could be used to exclude political rivals.

 

Tuam said the amendments would most likely allow the current leadership to determine who could compete for the PLO's top post.

 

"Most likely, the 68 National Council members from inside the country will be used in political rivalries, with the leadership's preferred candidate for the next phase to assume the presidency of both the organisation and the Authority among them, while depriving Marwan Barghouti of that opportunity to block his candidacy for the presidency of the organisation.

 

"There is no way for anyone seeking to combine both positions unless they are among those 68 members."

 

Tuam noted that he had previously identified a legal loophole that could prevent one person from simultaneously serving as president of both the Palestinian Authority and the PLO.

 

In an earlier interview with The New Arab, he proposed restoring the Legislative Council to 132 members while electing the remaining 68 National Council representatives at the same time.

 

"I proposed a solution to the loophole by returning the Legislative Council to 132 seats and electing the remaining share of National Council seats allocated to those inside the country (68 seats) simultaneously with the election of the 132 Legislative Council members," he said.

 

However, he warned that appointing rather than electing those members would undermine the democratic process.

 

"If reports to The New Arab prove accurate that the leadership intends to appoint those members rather than hold elections, this would be undemocratic and unjustified."

 

He added that such a move would also suggest that the 150 National Council members representing Palestinians abroad would likewise be appointed, giving the leadership a guaranteed majority of 218 seats in the 350-member National Council before adding members elected through the Legislative Council.

 

"I was hesitant to propose that solution because I did not want it to be exploited or developed in an undemocratic way, but that now appears to be what will happen in practice," Tuam said.

 

On 4 June, Abbas issued a decree amending the 2007 general elections law, increasing the size of the Palestinian Legislative Council from 132 to 200 members, lowering the electoral threshold to 1% and raising the minimum number of candidates required on each electoral list from 16 to 20.

 

The same day, Abbas also ratified the 2026 electoral system for the Palestinian National Council, setting its membership at 350 seats, including 200 representing the occupied Palestinian territories and 150 representing Palestinians living abroad.

 

Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council automatically serve on the Palestinian National Council, which elects the PLO Executive Committee and its chair, the organisation's highest office.

 

The Palestine Liberation Organisation remains the internationally recognised representative body of the Palestinian people in the occupied territories and across the diaspora.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/22 July 2026 - - -