RAMALLAH, West Bank, 26 March 2006 — Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday that he would not block parliamentary approval of a new Hamas-led government despite misgivings over its program but vowed to supervise it closely. “The president is not going to use the prerogatives given him by the Basic Law and will allow the government to be presented to Parliament” tomorrow, a statement from his office said.
Abbas said he wanted to “respect the democratic process” following the Islamist group’s upset rout of his long dominant Fatah faction in January elections and give the new government “the opportunity to take up its responsibilities.” “The choice of democracy does not mean a rejection of the legal and political commitments of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” he said.
“The government’s program has not taken into account the points in the letter,” which Abbas sent to Hamas Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh in February inviting him to form a government, it added. The Palestinian leader vowed to “follow closely the policies of the new government and continue to take the responsibilities and use the prerogatives accorded him by the Palestinian people.”
The government needed to protect Palestinian “political achievements and avoid giving the Israeli government pretexts” to violate signed accords and “impose unilateral settlements and frontiers.” Israel has refused to have any dealings with a government led by a group that has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in the last five years unless it renounces violence, honors past agreements and recognizes the Jewish state.
In Gaza City, Haniyeh visited Abbas’ offices in the territory to formally receive the Palestinian leader’s response to its Cabinet. “We will go to the (Palestinian) Legislative Council tomorrow to obtain a vote of confidence,” a formality after Hamas’ sweeping election victory, Haniyeh said. “On Thursday, we will hold an extraordinary session to take the oath of office before Brother Abu Mazen,” he added.
The session will have to be held at two separate venues in Ramallah and Gaza City connected by videoconference as Israel does not allow Hamas leaders to travel freely between the West Bank and Gaza. Fears had been expressed that the prospect of a Hamas-dominated Palestinian government taking power might impact on Israeli elections Tuesday.
