European Forum

Palestinian cabinet resigns

On 14 February the cabinet of the Palestinian Authority (PA) led by Salam Fayyad, the prime minister, has resigned. Officials declared President Mahmoud Abbas has accepted the resignations and has re-assigned Fayyad to form a new government as soon as possible. This is expected to be done in two weeks. Abbas asked Fayyad to consult with different Palestinian factions, institutions and members of the civil society. He thanked Fayyad and the members of his ex-cabinet for their efforts. The resignations came amid calls for reform in the Arab world, triggered by the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, after a popular revolt. The shake-up was long demanded by Fayyad and some in the Abbas Fatah faction.

Monday's development follows after the resignation of Saeb Erekat, the Palestine Liberation Organisation's chief negotiator, on February the 12th after it emerged that the source for the Palestine Papers, a set of leaked documents that was released by Al Jazeera, came from his own office. The leaks showed the concessions that Palestinian negotiators were willing to grant to Israel, contrary to their public posture during peace talks in 2008.

The PA has planned to hold long-overdue elections before September. Elections were cancelled in 2010 because of the continuing feud between Mr Abbas's Fatah Party and its rival Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip. The bitter divide means the Palestinian parliament has not been able to sit for almost four years and democracy here is on hold.

According to some this move of Abbas is partly cosmetic. Many of the Palestinian ministers who resigned today are expected to get their jobs back or move to different positions. According to BBC correspondent Jon Donnison the timing of the announcement suggests President Abbas is trying to send a message that he has been listening to events in Egypt. Mr Abbas is a long-time close ally of the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Bankrolled by international donors and engaged in security co-ordination with Israel, the Palestinian Authority has a limited mandate in the occupied West Bank. It lost control of the Gaza Strip to rival group, Hamas, in a 2007 civil war. Abbas' credibility has been further sapped by long-stalled negotiations with Israel on an accord founding a Palestinian state. Hamas spurns permanent co-existence with the Jewish state.

Hamas, who are in control of the Gaza Strip, immediately rejected new elections in September, saying Mr Abbas had no legitimacy. "Hamas will not take part in this election. We will not give it legitimacy. And we will not recognise the results," spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said. Hamas says the vote is intended to divert attention from the scandal caused by the Palestinian Papers.


Sources: BBC; AlJazeera, Photo: Flickr: World Economic Forum