Ramallah - A new 20-minister strong Palestinian government
was sworn in Tuesday in Ramallah amidst boycott from three major
Palestinian organizations, including President Mahmoud Abbas' own
Fatah party, and criticism from the Islamist Hamas movement.
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad presented his new and expanded
government, which included seven ministers from his former caretaker
government, seven from Fatah who did not heed the movement's boycott
call, independents and members of smaller Palestinian factions.
Fatah, the largest Palestinian political faction, wanted to head
the new government instead of Fayyad, who belongs to a new and
smaller party.
Abbas, who is head of Fatah movement, has defied pressure from his
own party in insisting to stay with Fayyad, a favourite of Western
countries, as head of the new government. As a result, Fatah leaders
called for a boycott of the new government and exerted pressure on
its members not to join it.
Minister of Interior Abdul Razzak Yehya was replaced by the
governor of Ramallah, Said Abu Ali, who is from Fatah, while Foreign
Minister Riad Malki remained in his post.
In addition to the mainstream Fatah movement, two major
Palestinian factions, the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine and the Palestinian People's Party, have also refused to
join the new government.
The two organizations wanted Abbas to wait until after the
conclusion of national reconciliation talks with Hamas, which were
expected to lead to the creation of a national unity government.
They said the announcement of a new government will derail
reconciliation talks.
Hamas has also criticized Abbas' decision to form a new
government, saying this step will end the reconciliation talks.
Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, said in a statement that
the formation of a new government at this time 'is a premeditated
sabotage of the internal Palestinian dialogue and a threat to its
future.'
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