Fatah Legislators Approve New Cabinet
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RAMALLAH, West Bank – Rebellious Fatah lawmakers yesterday accepted a Cabinet made up mostly of new faces after Palestinian Arab leader Mahmoud Abbas, wielding unexpected political clout, called them together and told them not to provoke a crisis.
Prime Minister Qurei has been trying all week to install a new Cabinet. Lawmakers objected to his first list because it was stacked with political cronies of the late Palestinian Arab leader, Yasser Arafat.
A second lineup dominated by professional appointments didn’t mollify legislators, either. Several said they wanted to push Mr. Qurei out and would not support any Cabinet he proposes. Mr. Qurei would have to step down if he fails to get his Cabinet approved in coming days. Mr. Abbas summoned legislators from his Fatah party and told them this was no time for a political crisis. “The whole world is watching, and we have a lot to do,” Fatah legislator Abdel Karim Abu Salah quoted Mr. Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, as telling party lawmakers.
A Palestinian Arab official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 20 of the 24 ministers are new faces. Among those to lose their jobs are the foreign minister, Nabil Shaath, and negotiator Saeb Erekat, he said. A key appointment is ex-general Nasser Yousef as interior minister in charge of security forces.
Fatah is the largest party in the Palestinian Arab Parliament, which was to convene today to vote on the Cabinet. Mr. Abbas’s forceful display yesterday came after he did little in recent days to defuse the political crisis. He is still widely perceived as an unassertive politician.
The turmoil underscored the increasingly freewheeling nature of Palestinian Arab politics following Arafat’s death last year, with politicians more willing to break party discipline.
Mr. Qurei was to appear last night before the Fatah bloc, which has demanded that he nominate a Cabinet that excludes the two political old-timers who remain on the list, Mr. Erekat and Mr. Shaath. Mr. Erekat said earlier yesterday he did not want to be a minister. Israel and America have long demanded reforms to the corruption-plagued Palestinian Authority, and success in the task is one of the key tests for Mr. Abbas.
