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Abbas announces first Palestinian elections in 15 years

15 January 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas published a decree on Friday announcing the dates for parliamentary and presidential elections in the Palestinian Authority.

Why it matters: This is the first time in 15 years that such a decree has been published. The last presidential elections took place in 2005, with Abbas winning, and the last parliamentary elections took place in 2006, with Hamas winning.

Driving the news: The parliamentary elections are scheduled for on May 22 and the Presidential elections for July 31 — though those plans could still fall through.

  • Abbas met today with the chairman of the central election committee and instructed him to make preparations for elections in the West Bank, in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and in Israeli-controlled East Jerusalem.
  • Last week, the head of Hamas' political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, told Abbas in a letter that the movement would agree to hold elections as part of a national reconciliation process.

Flashback: After Hamas won the 2006 elections, the Palestinian Authority deteriorated into a deep political crisis between Hamas and Fatah, Abbas' party.

  • The U.S. and other world powers announced they would not cooperate with Hamas until it recognized Israel, denounced terrorism and committed to previous agreements with Israel.
  • Hamas refused to adhere to those conditions and continues to reject them to this day. The U.S., U.K., EU and other Western governments still boycott Hamas, and the U.S. designates the group as a terror organization.
  • In 2007, a civil war broke out in the Gaza Strip and Hamas took over the area by force.

The big picture: Abbas’ announcement comes after numerous failed attempts at reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, and after several plans to hold elections fell through.

  • Abbas, who is 85 and in the 15th year of his four-year term, is not very popular. Recent public opinion polls indicate he could lose to a Hamas candidate.

What’s next: May 22 is four months away, and many analysts are skeptical about whether this election will actually take place.

  • One of the main stumbling blocs is East Jerusalem. If Israel doesn’t allow allow voting there, the election could be canceled.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.