OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 29 April 2003 — The Palestinian prime minister-designate yesterday cleared a hurdle toward taking office — and toward the release of a Mideast peace plan — by winning the support of the ruling Fatah party for his proposed Cabinet.
The endorsement boosts the chances of Prime Minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas and his Cabinet to win approval in Parliament today, since Fatah controls a solid majority in the legislature.
US President George W. Bush has said he will unveil the so-called road map to Palestinian statehood once Abbas has been installed. Bush refuses to deal with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whom he considers tainted by terrorism, and has been holding out for an alternate Palestinian leadership.
However, Arafat has been trying to retain as much as he can of his once near-absolute power. In an interview with the Israeli daily Maariv published yesterday, he suggested he has no plans to step aside, noting that he is the elected president of the Palestinian people and that “the whole world knows this.”
Arafat has recently received a trickle of visits by European diplomats, and despite Israeli objections, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi planned to meet him today.
Abbas said on Sunday he would not visit foreign capitals to discuss peace moves until Israel allowed Arafat to travel freely again. Analysts say Abbas fears that accepting a White House invitation now would make him look like a US lackey in Palestinian eyes.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has offered to meet Abbas and has spoken in vague terms about making “painful compromises” for peace. But Arafat expressed doubts about Sharon’s sincerity. “Sharon is not prepared to pay the price of peace,” he told Maariv.
The Israeli daily Haaretz said Abbas had told European diplomats he would use his inaugural speech to call for an end to the use of arms to achieve Palestinian national aspirations. But a Palestinian political source said Abbas may only reiterate his opposition to Palestinian attacks.
Asked what Sharon wanted from him, Arafat, a 73-year-old former guerrilla leader, repeated his oft-stated view that it was something of a personal vendetta against him. “I think that this whole thing started in 1982 when I caused him to lose his medals, as well as his position as defense minister, there in Beirut,” Arafat was quoted as saying. “I don’t know what he wants from me, really I don’t.”
Abbas formed his Cabinet after several weeks of wrangling with Arafat, who last week withdrew some of his challenges, including to the appointment of former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan as a junior minister for security - an appointment Israel and the United States saw as important.
However, there has been widespread criticism regarding some of Abbas’ choices, with some legislators saying he missed an opportunity for a sweeping overhaul. Critics also said several appointees, including Dahlan, are tainted by corruption, despite Abbas’ promise to carry out far-reaching government reform.
Legislator Hanan Ashrawi, an independent, said Abbas appears to have chosen Cabinet ministers largely based on personal loyalties. She said she told the prime minister-designate in a recent meeting that “if you play the game by the old rules, the president (Arafat) will beat you because he is a master of this game.”
Abbas needs the support of 43 legislators in the 85-member Parliament in today’s vote. The legislature, elected in 1996, initially had 88 members, but two have died and one has resigned. Fatah controls 62 seats.
The Fatah Central Committee, the movement’s ruling body, met yesterday, and decided to instruct its legislators to vote in favor of Abbas’ Cabinet. “President Arafat and the Central Committee of Fatah will provide the new Cabinet with all the Fatah support and personal support to win the vote of confidence tomorrow (Tuesday),” said Nabil Shaath, the incoming foreign minister.
However, it was not clear whether all Fatah legislators would heed the instructions. The lawmakers were to meet later with Arafat and Abbas.
With Parliament approval for the Cabinet, the Palestinians would have cleared the final hurdle toward the unveiling of the road map, expected in coming days. The three-stage plan envisions full Palestinian statehood within three years, and a provisional state in temporary borders as early as this year.
In one development yesterday, the so-called Quartet of international mediators - the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia -agreed on a plan for monitoring Israeli and Palestinians compliance with the road map.
The United States would be the referee on the two most important issues - security and a future Israeli settlement freeze. Humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians and government reform would be overseen by the Europeans.
Israeli and Palestinian officials said they were pleased to have the United States as the chief security monitor. Israel had insisted that the other three members of the Quartet have no say on the issue, and the Palestinians said they wanted to be certain Israel is not allowed to judge their performance.
However, Israeli Industry Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would walk away from the peace plan if Palestinian shooting and bombing attacks continue.
“If there will be terror, there will be nothing in the process,” Olmert, who is vice prime minister, told the Foreign Press Association in Israel.
