Palestinian Forum in Istanbul calls for direct elections to National Council

Participants in an emergency Palestinian national forum held in Istanbul have called for members of the Palestinian National Council to be chosen through free and direct elections and urged broader democratic reform of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

The forum, organized by the National Body for Palestinian Popular Action in cooperation with the independent Conference of Palestinians in Turkey, brought together Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora to discuss political representation and reform of Palestinian national institutions.

In a declaration issued following the gathering, participants rejected what they described as selective appointments and other mechanisms that do not give Palestinians a direct role in choosing their representatives. They argued that such arrangements lack sufficient representative legitimacy.

The declaration cited Article 5 of the PLO Basic Law, which states that members of the Palestinian National Council should be elected by the Palestinian people through direct ballot under an electoral system established for that purpose.

Participants called for free, fair and transparent elections that would allow eligible Palestinians both in the Palestinian territories and abroad to participate without discrimination or exclusion.

READ: More than 1,000 Palestinian figures call for an elected National Council and diaspora representation

They proposed establishing an independent electoral oversight committee composed of experts, alongside a clear legal framework and a specialized judicial mechanism to adjudicate disputes arising from the electoral process.

The forum also proposed creating a regulated registration platform for Palestinians worldwide, with the aim of developing a national voter registry that could facilitate participation by Palestinians in the diaspora in future PNC elections.

The declaration urged the PLO leadership to end what participants characterized as exclusion, marginalization and appointment-based representation and to pursue institutional reforms intended to renew the organization’s representative legitimacy while preserving its role as the principal Palestinian national umbrella organization.

The gathering comes amid a broader debate over reform of the PNC and representation of Palestinians abroad. In June, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ratified a new PNC electoral system approved by the PLO Executive Committee. The framework provides for a 350-member council, with 200 seats representing Palestinians in the Palestinian territories and 150 representing Palestinians abroad, and calls for general, direct and secret-ballot elections under proportional representation where voting can be organized.

The Istanbul forum drew more than 350 participants in person and online from more than 30 countries, according to organizers. Its proposals are political recommendations and do not themselves alter the PLO’s existing electoral or institutional arrangements.

READ: Palestinian vote could be ‘game-changer’ in Israel’s upcoming elections: Lawmaker