RAMALLAH, West Bank — In a special meeting held Oct. 13 to examine the legal repercussions of the decision issued by the Supreme Court of Justice ordering the cancellation of the local council election in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian parliamentary Legal Committee in Gaza recommended considering the possibility of reinstating Ismail Haniyeh's government, after what it described as the “abandonment” by the government of national consensus of its responsibilities.

The local council elections that had been slated for Oct. 8 were suspended by a decision issued by the Supreme Court of Justice on Oct. 3 to allow elections in the West Bank and cancel them in the Gaza Strip. The decision prompted the Council of Ministers, which wanted to organize elections in both the West Bank and Gaza, to hold a meeting Oct. 4 and announce the postponement of the elections for four months.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said the postponement of the elections had been decided in coordination with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which indicates that the president wants to hold elections in the West Bank and Gaza at the same time, contrary to the decision of the Supreme Court in limiting elections to the West Bank. This also means that all of the efforts exerted during the next four months to overcome the obstacles that have prevented the holding of the elections, as well as the decisions that may be taken by the government, will surely be subject to the president’s approval.

It should be recalled that the Palestinian Authority (PA) did not recognize the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip competent under local election law No. 10 of 2005 to examine challenges against electoral lists. This pushed Hamdallah to talk Oct. 4 about the possibility of establishing courts specialized in electoral cases by virtue of a presidential decree, whose decisions would be binding for all.