May 20, 2009, 13:15 GMT
Ramallah - Acting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called Wednesday on factions which have announced a boycott of his newly appointed government to join the cabinet.
'Our hands are stretched out,' the premier told reporters following the first session of his new, 20-member transitional government.
The new government was sworn in by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas late Tuesday, as talks between Abbas' Fatah movement and the rival Hamas organization on forming a unity government were making little headway.
Fatah's own parliament bloc has announced it will boycott the new government, as have two other Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) factions - the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestinian People's Party, which are the second and fourth-largest in the PLO respectively.
Fayyad said he had left the door open for them to join, noting the government could have up to 24 ministers.
'We tried to have a government that is composed of Palestinian factions to strengthen the government, which is still open to change and alteration,' he said.
Seven Fatah ministers have joined despite their movement's calls to boycott the Fayyad government. Fatah is angry that Abbas did not appoint one of its members as prime minister.
Fayyad, who resigned in March hoping to give a push to the talks between Fatah and the rival Hamas movement ruling Gaza - aimed at reaching a transitional unity government that would prepare for new elections - would nonetheless continue.
'The government is transitional and it will end its work once a national unity government is formed at a time that should not exceed the constitutional date for elections,' Fayyad said. That date is January 25, 2010, when the current term of the Hamas-dominated parliament expires.
A fifth round of Hamas-Fatah talks, begun in February in the hope of ending the West Bank-Gaza split of now almost two years, ended Monday without a breakthrough.
That has prompted Abbas to appoint a new, transitional government, which he hoped would contain many PLO factions and thus enjoy broader support. Without Hamas-Fatah agreement, it will be difficult to hold the presidential and legislative elections in Gaza and the West Bank by January.
'Every effort should be exerted to create the proper environment to end the division,' said Fayyad. 'We will work toward rebuilding Gaza and it is very important to have international pressure on Israel to end its siege and for the aid committed for Gaza to become an actuality to help our people in Gaza start this mission.'
He also said that his government will continue on the path of reforms and institution building in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The new Fayyad government includes seven ministers from his former caretaker government, seven from Fatah who did not heed the movement's boycott call, and independents and members of smaller Palestinian factions.
Fatah, the largest Palestinian political faction, wanted to head the new government instead of Fayyad, who was previously independent and now belongs to a new and smaller party.
Abbas, who heads Fatah, has defied the pressure from his own party, insisting on Fayyad, a favourite of Western countries, considered reliable and transparent. Fayyad believes he is the individual best equipped to bring in aid to the Palestinians.
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.
The PFLP and the People's Party have said said they will not join because they wanted Abbas to wait until after the conclusion of national reconciliation talks with Hamas in July.
They said the announcement of a new government would derail the reconciliation talks.
Hamas has also slammed Abbas' decision, with spokesman Fawzi Barhoum in a statement calling it 'premeditated sabotage of the internal Palestinian dialogue and a threat to its future.'
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