The Cabinet of the Palestinian Authority, in its session held on Tuesday, 17 May 2011, decided to postpone the local elections which were scheduled to be held on 9 July 2011. According to the new timeline, the elections will be held on 22 October 2011.
This decision came in light of the national reconciliation agreement, and as a response to a suggestion made by the CEC on 7 May 2011 to postpone the elections for a maximum of 90 days. The reason for the postponement is to provide an opportunity for all voters and parties to be registered and nominated and to participate in free and democratic elections conducted on the same day in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The Local Elections Law calls for local council elections to be held every four years. The last local elections to be carried out were held in phases, but never completed, between December 2004 and December 2005 – more than six years ago.