Abbas moves to try to end Palestinian crisis
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 Updated at 8:29 AM EST
Globe and Mail
Associated Press
Ramallah, West Bank — Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas intervened Wednesday to end a political crisis over the formation of a new cabinet after it became apparent that the turmoil could bring down his Prime Minister.
Legislators from Mr. Abbas's Fatah Party had said they would not support Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia's new cabinet despite promises that he would replace corruption-tainted politicians with professional appointees.
The proposed cabinet would make it easier for Mr. Abbas to carry out reforms than one stacked with politicians.
Mr. Qureia will have to step down if he fails to get his cabinet approved. A vote was originally set for later Wednesday but has been delayed until Thursday at the earliest – a sign of Mr. Qureia's difficulties.
Several legislators said they wanted to push Mr. Qureia out and would not support any cabinet he proposes. During years as parliament speaker, he made many enemies among legislators who perceived him as doing the bidding of the late Yasser Arafat at the expense of the legislature.
Mr. Abbas had largely remained on the sidelines during the political turmoil of the past few days, but convened Fatah legislators Wednesday and urged them to support the proposed Cabinet.
An angry Mr. Qureia did not participate in the meeting, and instead returned to his home in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis.
Mr. Abbas, widely known as Abu Mazen, told legislators they should set their criticism aside because the new cabinet would serve for only a few months until legislative elections in July.
“The whole world is watching and we have a lot to do,” Fatah legislator Abdel Karim Abu Salah quoted Mr. Abbas as telling the group.
Some participants said they would withdraw their opposition, provided Mr. Qureia presents the new team to the Fatah legislators before the parliament vote and removes two proposed ministers – outgoing Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath and chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Mr. Qureia had said his new cabinet would largely consist of technocrats, rather than politicians, but had asked to make an exception for Mr. Shaath and Mr. Erekat, who are both members of parliament and political veterans. Mr. Erekat had said earlier Wednesday he did not want to be part of the new cabinet.
Fatah legislator Mohammed Horani said the crisis appears to be over.
“We have agreed in principle with Abu Mazen to let this crisis pass,” he said.
Late Tuesday, more than two dozen legislators, including many from Fatah, met in a Ramallah hotel and decided not to back the new list, participants said. Fatah controls more than half the seats in the 85-member parliament, and Mr. Qureia needs broad support from the party's legislators.
Earlier this week, Mr. Qureia had presented a cabinet to parliament that included only four new faces, prompting an angry outcry from legislators. After wall-to-wall criticism, he returned with a promise to overhaul his team and appoint many more professionals.
Israel and the United States have long demanded reforms to the corruption-plagued Palestinian Authority, and success in the task is one of the key tests for Mr. Abbas.
Mr. Abbas and Mr. Qureia have long been political rivals but have co-operated after Mr. Arafat's death in November. In recent weeks, their relationship has cooled.
The Fatah party has dominated Palestinian politics for four decades, ruling the Palestinian Authority since its inception in 1994. But some say voter frustration with corruption and cronyism will lead to the party's defeat in a July parliamentary election.
In Israel, Police Chief Moshe Karadi asked for an additional 61 million shekels (about $17.2-million) to deal with what they said are serious warnings about a possible attack by Jewish extremists on a key Jerusalem holy site.
Israeli security officials have warned for months that extremists might try to attack the shrine – known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif – to inflame Israeli-Arab tensions and sabotage Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to pull Israelis out of the Gaza Strip this summer.
Mr. Karadi told parliament's finance committee on Tuesday that he wants to hire 187 more officers to help protect the site from attack, the committee said in a statement.
The holy site is one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and any attack would resonate worldwide.
Also Tuesday, the Israeli army named Major-General Dan Halutz as chief of staff to replace Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon, whose term was not extended by the customary year. Gen. Halutz is to take command before Israel's pullout from Gaza and part of the West Bank, set for the summer.
As air force commander, Gen. Halutz ignited a controversy when he told a local newspaper that he sleeps well at night despite a 2003 bombing raid in Gaza that killed 14 civilians, many of them children, along with a targeted Hamas leader.
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