The Palestinian Authority’s former Finance Minister Salam Faya’d is likely to be the new Palestinian prime minister, The Media Line has learned.
There are also increasing signs that Palestinian leader Mahmoud ‘Abbas will announce his resignation during the next 48 hours.
Faya’d ran in this week’s Palestinian parliamentary elections as the head of The Third Way, preaching the need for politics free from corruption.
The Media Line’s staff in Ramallah report Hamas will ask Faya’d to take up the premiership, just hours after Ahmad Qurei’ announced his resignation as prime minister and those of all his cabinet colleagues.
Even though it looks as though Hamas will be by far the largest party in the new legislative council, its chiefs say they want more experienced hands to help them run the affairs of the West Bank and Gaza.
Faya’d is a former staffer at the World Bank and was the International Monetary Fund’s representative to the Palestinian areas until 2001.