Palestinian Basic Law
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The Palestinian Basic Law

A collection of various propsals and amendments to the Basic Law of Palestine.

News & updates

Majority supports decision not to run


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A majority of Palestinians support President Mahmoud Abbas not to run in future Palestinian elections. This is one of the main findings in a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center ...   More...

Abbas to stay until next vote


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President Mahmoud Abbas states that he will stay on as President until new elections are held, but repeats that he will not stand for reelection. Elections were originally slated for ...   More...

Abbas confirms postponed elections


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President Mahmoud Abbas confirms that he has accepted advice not to hold Palestinian elections as scheduled for January 2010. Abbas states that measures will be taken to avoid a constitutional ...   More...

Alertnet Q&A: Does Abbas really intend to step aside?


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President Mahmoud Abbas has stated that he does not intend to stand for elections that are scheduled to be held on 25 January 2010. Is he serious? Read: Alertnet,  "Q&A Does ...   More...

Fatah supports Egyptian proposal to delay elections


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Fatah has accepted an Egyptian proposal to end the rift witht Hamas. The propsal would delay presidential and parliamentary elections due in January. The preliminary election date is 25 January 2010, but it remains ...   More...

Abbas to call elections if negotiations fail


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In a speech at the first meetiing of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) in 13 years, President Mahmoud Abbas said that he would press ahead with parliamentary and presidential elections ...   More...

– Elections by January 2010


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Rival Palestinian groups have agreed to hold presidential and legislative elections by January 2010. There are, however, disagreements as to what kind of government would prepare for the polls. The ...   More...

Dispute over presidential term deferred


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Due to the Israeli onslught on Gaza, the dispute over President Mahmoud Abbas' presidential term, which is set to expire Friday 9 January, the legitimacy challenge to Abbas' presidency has ...   More...

– Abbas will not seek second term


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Acter consulting with regional leaders, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will reportedly not stand for reelection next year. Read: Haaretz, "Abbas says he'll call for elections in Gaza, West Bank 'very ...   More...

Abbas: Elections to be held “very soon”


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Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has stated his intention to schedule Palestinian elections "very soon" in the absence of reconciliation with the de facto Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. Abbas has said to ...   More...

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Facts about the Basic Law

The Palestinian Basic Law is to function as a temporary constitution for the Palestinian Authority until the establishment of an independent state and a permanent constitution for Palestine can be achieved.

The Basic Law was passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1997 and ratified by President Yasser Arafat in 2002. It has subsequently been amended twice; in 2003 the political system was changed to introduce a prime minister. In 2005 it was amended to conform to the new Election Law. The 2003 reform was comprehensive and affected the whole nature of the Palestinian political system, whereas the 2005 amendment was only minor and affected only a few paragraphs.

A parallel effort has been made to draft a permanent Palestinian constitution for an independent state, but this was shelved in favor of amending the existing Basic Law.


About this site

This website presents a collection of various drafts and amendments related to the Basic Law and other constitutional texts that have been compiled from various other sources.

You can also expect to find links to news items and reports that are of relevance to Palestinian constitutional law, the electoral framework, political reform and the PA branches of government.

The website was created by the Norwegian journalists Erik Bolstad and Tonje M. Viken in February 2008. The site is a private initiative and has no affiliation to any organizations or authorities.

All external links are purely for information purposes and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors of this site.

Information and contact details.