New PA constitution doesn't mention borders - or
refugees
By The Associated Press
21/01/2003
A proposed Palestinian constitution declares Islam the official religion and cedes some power from the president to a prime minister, according to a partial draft obtained by the Associated Press Monday. An Israeli official rejected the document as an effort to preserve Yasser Arafat's rule.
Those parts of the 229-clause draft Palestinian constitution which were made available by Palestinian officials to the AP do not address some key issues, including the borders with Israel and a solution for Palestinian refugees.
The strongest figure in the government would be the president, who appoints the prime minister. The prime minister would run daily government, but the main policy-maker would be the president, a position held by Arafat since the Palestinian Authority was created in 1994 as a result of interim agreements.
Israel and the U.S. have called for Arafat to be replaced, and Sharon spokesman Ra'anan Gissin rejected the proposed constitution.
"There is no doubt that all these attempts to put out a constitution and talk of reform are just meant to give legitimacy to Arafat, to give the impression of reform," he said.
Another key element of the constitution is the declaration of Islam as the official Palestinian religion. The state would guarantee the sanctity of places of worship and respect other religions, according to the draft.
Most of the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are Muslims, while about 50,000 are Christians. The Palestinian areas contain sites holy to Christians, especially the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Neither the Vatican nor the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem would comment. A patriarchate spokesman, said a meeting with Palestinian officials was canceled due to Israeli travel restrictions.
Palestine would have a 150-member parliament with two houses, one representing Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The second would represent Palestinians living abroad but lack national decision-making powers.
Also, the document says Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine, but does not go into detail. Palestinian negotiators have demanded control over East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed. Key holy sites of Islam, Judaism and Christianity are in the walled Old City.
haaretzdaily.com |
