New Palestinian Gov’t Sworn in; Hamas Says Won’t Recognize It

New Palestinian Gov’t Sworn in; Hamas Says Won’t Recognize It
Hanan Awarekeh Readers

19/05/2009 Instead of having a unity government that includes all factions, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose term ended on January 9, decided to form a new Hamas-less government brushing aside hopes to reach a deal with the Islamic resistance movement which led the latter to reject this “illegal government”.

Again headed by Western-backed Salam Fayyad, a new Palestinian government was sworn in on Tuesday. The new cabinet took the oath of office at the Palestinian Authority (PA) headquarters in the occupied West Bank town of Ramallah.

About half of the 25 ministers are Fatah members and the rest belong to other groups, but none to Hamas, which said it would not recognize the new government. The ceremony came a day after the secular Fatah faction and the rival Hamas adjourned a fifth round of talks in Egypt without agreeing on a unity deal.

On March 7, Fayyad announced that he had submitted his resignation to pave the way for a "national consensus" between Fatah and Hamas.

Hamas on Tuesday accused Abbas of "deliberately sabotaging the Palestinian dialogue." "This government is illegal and we will not recognize it," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said in a statement.

Agreement between the two Palestinian factions is vital for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, devastated by Israel's 22-day offensive in December and January that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, including 420 children and injured over 5300 others.

International donor countries pledged 4.5 billion dollars to the Palestinian Authority at a conference in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh in March, much of it for the reconstruction of Gaza. But many donor countries refuse to channel their funds via Hamas, insisting the PA must supervise the spending.

Hamas democratically swept Palestinian parliamentary elections in January 2006 and formed a government two months later, but the cabinet was boycotted by Israel and the West over the resistance group's refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel and past “peace deals”.

Tensions between Hamas and Fatah grew for months afterwards, often erupting into violent clashes, but the two sides managed to form a unity government in March 2007 after Saudi mediation. That cabinet was short-lived however.

In June 2007, the tensions erupted into Gaza street clashes that saw unprecedented violence between the two factions and ended with Hamas in control of the territory of 1.5 million people. Abbas then formed a new cabinet with Fayyad at the helm in July 2007.

Riyad al-Malki will retain the foreign affairs portfolio in the new cabinet, and five ministries, including tourism and education, will be headed by women.

Earlier this month, Abbas was forced to postpone the formation of a new government when members of his own Fatah faction threatened to revolt.

Most Fatah officials were pleased with the decision to move forward without Hamas and that Fayyad had agreed to stay on as prime minister, but were less than happy with Fayyad's alleged intention to shut Fatah out of his cabinet, too.

Fayyad heads the Third Way political faction, and it was rumored that he would appoint ministers from his own party, as well as independent candidates, with the blessing of Abbas.

Commentators are calling the situation the worst crisis Abbas has faced since taking over the Palestinian Authority following Yasser Arafat's death in 2005.

Hamas: Forming new government in WB entails more chaos, sabotages dialog

[ 19/05/2009 - 05:15 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Hamas on Tuesday said that the formation of a new illegitimate government in the West Bank at a time the national dialog sessions were ongoing in Cairo constituted an additional political, legal and constitutional chaos.

Hamas's spokesman in Gaza Fawzi Barhoum said in a press release that the government declaration posed as an intentional sabotage of the inter-Palestinian dialog.

He said that Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader and former PA chief, was thus not responding to the Palestinian demands for eliminating all obstacles before dialog, charging that the step was meant to waste all gains of the past dialog sessions.

The government will remain illegal and unconstitutional and Hamas will not recognize or deal with it, Barhoum elaborated.

The spokesman said that uniting the Palestinian line and strengthening the internal front is the goal of Hamas.

Reproducing what already exists to gain American and Zionist satisfaction at the expense of inter-Palestinian concord reflected Abbas's complete subjugation to Zio-American dictates that wasted Palestinian rights, Barhoum concluded.

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