RAMALLAH – Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Wednesday said changes to the Palestinian cabinet will be made “soon,” potentially before the Eid holiday begins on Friday.
Hamdallah said in a press conference that the internal division with Hamas is a top priority for the government, but accused Hamas of impeding current efforts towards unity by creating a shadow government in the Gaza Strip.
The PM added that holding elections — which haven’t taken place since 2006 — is bound by the approval of all factions which had not yet been received.
Wednesday’s statement came amid ongoing uncertainty about the state of the current government.
Earlier this week sources said President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamdallah would not decide on a government reshuffle until after the Eid next weekend.
The president and prime minister reportedly met to discuss candidates for ministerial portfolios on Saturday evening but made no final decisions.
While factions of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) are allegedly seeking to form a completely new government along factional lines, sources said Saturday that Abbas wants the current unity government to carry on with only a reshuffle of several ministers.
There has been talk of a reshuffle for months, but in mid-June it was announced at a Fatah council meeting that the entire government would soon be dissolved.
The PLO executive committee appointed a committee to consult Palestinian factions — including Hamas — on forming a new government, and it was widely expected that the new government would see factional leaders replace the current government’s independent technocrats.
However, the talks have so far proven fruitless, with Fatah officials claiming they reached an “impasse” and Hamas officials claiming they were not consulted beyond “some phone calls.”
Hamas is not a PLO member and has alleged that the PLO is not the appropriate body to carry out the reforming of the government.
Attempts for reform came after the unity government formed in June last year repeatedly failed to overcome divisive issues between Fatah and Hamas.
Power has remained divided between the Hamas-led Gaza Strip and Fatah-dominated West Bank since 2007.
Factional fighting that erupted after Hamas won legislative elections in 2006 eventually led to the geographical and political split between the two parties.
Reprinted with permission of Ma’an News Agency [3].