Israel Matzav

Fayyad dissolves 'Palestinian cabinet'

In a bid to distract the 'Palestinians' from what is going on in the rest of the Arab world, 'Palestinian Prime Minister' Salam Fayyad has dissolved his cabinet, and will appoint a new one over the next two weeks.

The official Wafa news agency said the move was intended to prepare for general elections planned later this year. Fayyad now has six weeks to name a new cabinet.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accepted Fayyad's decision after the cabinet meeting.

Abbas's Palestinian Authority has announced a series of dramatic moves following mass protests that ousted rulers in Egypt and Tunisia over the past month. The protests have spurred calls for democracy throughout the Middle East, a region dominated by monarchs and autocratic leaders.

The Palestinians are also dealing with the fallout from embarrassing media leaks about past peace talks with Israel. Together with deadlock in peace efforts with Israel, these developments have put pressure on Abbas to press forward with reforms.

The Palestinian Authority government said over the weekend that it would hold long-overdue general elections later this year, weeks after saying it would hold local elections in July.

...

A Fayyad aide said his boss was expected to include members of Abbas's Fatah party in the cabinet, members of smaller Palestinian Authority factions, as well as independent technocrats. Fayyad is a US-educated economist.

I'm inclined to agree with Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum's assessment of the situation.

"This is silly theater," said Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum. He accused Abbas of trying to fool people into thinking that genuine reform was underway.

Sounds right to me.

Labels: Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:24 AM