Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced that legislative elections will be held in late November, as his government comes under mounting international pressure to demonstrate its legitimacy.

Axar.az reports, citing Al Jazeera, that Abbas issued a decree on Thursday declaring the election date for November 28 in all of the Palestinian Territories, including the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and Gaza.

If the vote goes ahead, it will be the first in 20 years.

The last legislative elections in the Palestinian Territories were held in 2006, when Hamas secured a shock victory. The result triggered a political split with Abbas’s previously dominant Fatah party, culminating in Hamas taking control of Gaza in 2007.

Abbas was elected to a four-year term in 2005 but has remained in office ever since. He has ruled by decree for more than 15 years, leading to accusations, both within Palestine and abroad, of corruption and abuse of power.

Last month, Abbas announced that presidential elections would be held early next year but did not confirm whether he would seek another term.