GAZA CITY, 19 March 2006 — Hamas yesterday completed a list of the new Palestinian Cabinet that does not include members of any other party. Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh announced at a news conference here that he would present the list and the new government’s platform to President Mahmoud Abbas today for approval.
Haniyeh said he would keep the door open for undecided parties represented in the Palestine Legislative Council (Parliament) to join the Hamas-led government. He said Hamas was still waiting for the final decision of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on joining the government.
The small Palestinian faction is not expected to join the Hamas government. PFLP lawmaker Jamil Majdalawi said yesterday that differences remained between Hamas and the PFLP.
The Hamas leader said he respected the decision of those who chose to stay out of the government but still hoped they would reconsider.
Haniyeh said he phoned Abbas on Friday night and discussed with him the latest list. Palestinian officials said Abbas would not reject the new Cabinet because the president believed he should give Hamas a chance to get its government in place.
Nabil Abu Rudeinah, spokesman for the president said: “In my view, the president is not going to reject the Hamas government because he is not willing to block a government that is going to win a confidence vote in Parliament.”
Abbas was elected separately and wields considerable authority. However, he cannot impose his own Cabinet lineup on Hamas, which swept January parliament elections and controls an absolute majority in the legislature.
Once the president approves the Cabinet, it will be presented to Parliament for endorsement. Asked to name the ministers, Haniyeh said he could not do that before the president’s approval.
The group’s failure to attract any coalition partners and its decision to appoint its own members to top positions could bolster US and Israeli efforts to isolate the new government diplomatically and economically.
Abbas’ Fatah and the other factions were under heavy US pressure not to join a coalition.
“We have no doubt we will succeed in shouldering our responsibilities and running Palestinian affairs. The people who gave us their trust will not starve,” Haniyeh assured Palestinians.
Haniyeh urged donors not to cut off assistance that is vital to keeping the Palestinian economy afloat. “Threatening to cut aid means punishment for a free people because they practiced democracy in fairness and transparency,” he said.
As many as one in four Palestinians is dependent on wages from the Palestinian Authority.
According to sources close to the deliberations, Hamas will name Omar Abdel-Razeq, a prominent West Bank economics professor and Hamas election official, to the post of finance minister.
Abdel-Razeq, a professor at Al-Najah University, led Hamas’ election team for the West Bank. He was seized by Israeli forces early in January and freed three days ago, Hamas sources said.
Hamas sources said the group might well keep Mazen Sonnoqrot, an independent, in his post as economy minister.
The foreign minister will be Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a leader in Gaza whom Israel has tried to assassinate, Hamas sources said.
Another Hamas leader, Saeed Seyam, would become interior minister, with control over three Palestinian security agencies.
— Additional input from agencies
