RAMALLAH, West Bank — Armed clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas in the Gaza Strip on June 7, 2007, following Hamas’ win in the legislative elections. The clashes resulted in Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip and President Mahmoud Abbas declaring a state of emergency. The legislative branch drew its last breath as the Palestinian Legislative Council slipped into a deathly coma from which it has yet to emerge.

Despite the fact that the reconciliation government was sworn in June 2, 2014, it has failed to set the stage for presidential and legislative elections, just as Fatah and Hamas have failed to implement the provisions of the reconciliatory Beach Refugee Camp Agreement signed by Fatah and Hamas on April 23, 2014, which called for the resumption of the Legislative Council’s work and the establishment of a consensus government.

The Legislative Council’s demise led to Abbas assuming both legislative and judicial powers in 2007, in addition to his executive branch authority in the West Bank, while Hamas took control of all powers in the Gaza Strip, leading to two separate and distinct legislative environments that threaten to plunge the political system into absolute totalitarianism.

Hamas members of the Legislative Council in the Gaza Strip convene meetings independently and pass laws, such as the recent Solidarity Tax Law (a tax on imported goods), while Abbas resorts to issuing decrees on behalf of the Legislative Council.