RAMALLAH, 12 July 2007 — The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) yesterday canceled its opening session, called by President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the state of the emergency government, after Hamas MPs boycotted the Parliament. This cleared the way for Abbas to exploit the paralysis to extend the mandate of his emergency Cabinet. Only 41 parliamentarians showed up but according to Palestinian Basic Law, the Parliament is not allowed to legislate when fewer than 67 members are present.
The Palestinian law also requires that the emergency government resign by the end of the week and that the Parliament appoint a new government. If the Parliament is not able to approve the new government, the emergency government headed by Salam Fayyad would remain in place, but would be designated a transitory government instead of its current definition of emergency government.
Fatah blamed Hamas for the suspension of proceedings. The head of Fatah’s bloc at the PLC Azzam Al-Ahmad said: “Hamas members closed the PLC in Gaza and banned Fatah members from entering. The PLC was closed by Executive Force militias under orders from Deputy Speaker Ahmad Bahar.” Al-Ahmad gave the names of many of the PLC members who he said were prevented from entering. Al-Ahmad also condemned Hamas’ actions, calling them “sabotage.”
