Wong joins call for Abbas to reverse election delay

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has joined her British, Canadian and French counterparts in calling on the Palestinian Authority to reconsider its decision to postpone legislative and presidential elections until September 2027.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the four ministers said they deeply regretted President Mahmoud Abbas’s decision, noting that nearly two decades had passed since the last Palestinian Legislative Council elections and five years since the planned 2021 vote was postponed.

“An entire generation of Palestinians has reached adulthood without the opportunity to choose their elected representatives,” the statement said. “This delay will be deeply disappointing and once again deprive Palestinians of the opportunity to vote and will further erode public confidence in democratic institutions.”

The ministers said credible elections were an important element of the reform commitments Abbas and the PA made, including democratic renewal and accountable governance, in line with the June 2025 New York Declaration.

“Strengthening Palestinian governance is essential to continue building the institutional foundations of a viable two-state solution,” they said, calling on the PA to hold the elections without further delay.