TEL AVIV, 25 February 2005 — The Palestinian Parliament, in what was described as a “victory for democracy”, succeeded in coercing Premier Ahmed Qorei to adopt a Cabinet of reform-minded technocrats.

A strong, pro-reform block of Fatah legislators in the Parliament forced Qorei to rid himself of most individuals from the era of late president Yasser Arafat and introduce 17 completely new faces.

In what one legislator described as a “distinct departure” from the past, the new ministers were selected according to their professional background and abilities, rather than their loyalty or political affiliation.

In another break from previous governments, the new Cabinet contains only one minister who is also a member of Parliament — Nabil Shaath, who was appointed information minister and deputy premier.

Qorei thereby answered a key demand by the Parliament for a clear separation of the legislative and executive powers.

Amid loud applause, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) overwhelmingly accepted the 24-member Cabinet presented by Qorei Thursday.

The 54-11 vote ended a three-day political crisis which began Monday when Qorei presented a list that dismayed many legislators because it differed little from previous governments that had failed to push through reforms or fight corruption.

Qorei realized that he would not get majority support for the list and was forced to postpone a vote of confidence scheduled for that day.

Efforts to reach a compromise with his Fatah faction failed the next day and on Wednesday he even sulked at his home in the East Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis and did not participate in a meeting between Fatah legislators and President Mahmoud Abbas.

Only in the evening did Qorei return to Ramallah for a meeting of the Fatah Central Committee, where he and Fatah finally agreed on a completely revised Cabinet, more than five weeks after Abbas was sworn in and charged him forming a new government.

The episode weakened Qorei and reduced his chances of continuing as premier after the Palestinian parliamentary elections scheduled for July. Fatah lawmakers criticized him in particular for his absence from Wednesday’s Fatah meeting, which they called an “insult” to PLC members.

Many PLC members were delighted with the changes they managed to push through Thursday, with Shaath speaking of a “victory for democracy”.

“It does signal a departure. It does signal we are going to build institutions,” prominent Palestinian figure Hanan Ashrawi told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Others, however, were more skeptical as to whether the first post-Arafat government would be able to meet the high expectations of the international community to build the democratic institutions which can be the foundation of a future independent state.

George Giacaman, the director of the Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy in Ramallah, said he did not believe the government would be able to carry out reforms, because it was an interim government which would last not much more than five months, until the elections in July.

“If the elections go ahead as planned, they will have too little time to do anything,” he told DPA.

What had been lacking in the attempts to implement reforms, was not “technical expertise” or “know-how”, he said, pointing out that many detailed reform plans had been drawn up, but were “collecting dust” in drawers. The question therefore remained whether the new “government of technocrats”, as it has been dubbed by Palestinians, had the political will and strength to push through reforms.

The crisis of the past five days showed a “splintering of Fatah”, because one block of Fatah PLC members had sided with Qorei, while another block and some independent legislators had rebelled against him, he said. In his address to the PLC prior to presenting his new list, Qorei stated security, reforms and preparing for the elections were the main goals of his new government.

He did not mention peace negotiations, which is seen as a longer-term goal.

The question thus is whether the new Cabinet can carry out its remit and live up to expectations, or whether the “departure from the past” will turn out to be a false start.