GAZA, 23 February 2005 — Faced with the very real possibility of a rejection of his Cabinet lineup in the Palestinian Parliament, Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei yesterday promised to present a Cabinet of technocrats to the PLC today.
Lawmakers and members of the dominant Fatah faction said Qorei had drawn up a new list dominated by technocrats and featuring only two members of Parliament.
The initial list presented by Qorei to Parliament for its approval on Monday featured 15 deputies.
Qorei put together his new list after a meeting of Fatah’s Central Committee convened after Monday’s aborted parliamentary session when he had hoped to win the approval for his 24-member team.
“There will only be two members from the Legislative Council on the new list,” Cabinet Minister Qaddura Fares told reporters.
Parliamentary officials said Qorei would present the line-up to MPs for approval today. “We will convene (parliament) tomorrow,” said Fatah MP and central committee member Abbas Zaki.
“A totally new government will be presented to us. It’s a government of technocrats with only two MPs... The Central Committee of Fatah decided that such a government is needed to respond to the needs for reforms at all levels.”
While Qorei had only wanted a limited reshuffle, it is understood that Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas, who succeeded the late Palestinian Authority President Arafat in January, had been pushing for more wholesale changes. Fatah sources said they expected Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat and Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, set to become deputy prime minister, to be the two MPs to remain in the Cabinet.
Reformist Finance Minister Salam Fayad would likely keep his job as he is not an MP nor a member of Fatah.
The current Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Nasser Al-Kidwa, is also still expected to become foreign minister, while Nasr Yussuf should be made interior minister as planned, as both are not MPs.
Nabil Amr, a close ally of Abbas who had been due to return to government as information minister in the initial list presented by Qorei, said the dispute reflected a breakdown in discipline in the ranks of Fatah.
“Fatah is less disciplined than before but this is how Parliament is meant to function in a democracy,” he said.
Discontent about Qorei’s initial line-up was not confined to the political ranks, but also attracted criticism from militants.
Members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades called a press conference in Gaza yesterday where they urged MPs to reject a Cabinet which represented “corruption and chaos.”
Abbas is under heavy pressure from the United States and other international donors to revamp often competing security forces and clean up his government.
— Additional input from agencies
