New Palestinian Cabinet announced
Palestine, Local, 8/5/1998

The long wait for Palestinian cabinet reshuffle was finally over, but it fell short of meeting the expectations of many Palestinians. The new cabinet was found to be the same as the old one with an addition of ten new ministers, half of whom do not even know what their job will be.

Six of the ten ministers were not given any portfolios, but Palestinian sources insist their job will be part of a total plan that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has prepared for next year's proclamation of the Palestinian state.

International cooperation and planning minister Nabil Shaath said that immediately after the new cabinet is sworn in, the Palestinian leadership will set out a new negotiating strategy to meet the requirements of the upcoming phase of talks with Israel. He did not go into details, but in his speech before the Palestinian Legislative Council, Arafat stressed his authority's commitment to the Oslo Agreements and called on the US and Russia to exert more pressure on Israel to force it to implement the agreements between the two sides.

The new Cabinet is not expected to last for more than ten months, judging by the mandate the Palestine Legislative Council [PLC] has until the end of the interim period in May next year. It is also seen as a major compromise between persistent calls on the part of the PLC for a Cabinet reshuffle and Arafat's insistence on avoiding a major shakeup in his Cabinet during the last ten months that separate him from the D-Day when he plans to unilaterally declare the creation of the independent Palestinian state.

Arafat appears to have understood that he needs more ministers, and of course more of their constituencies, to be involved in the crucial diplomatic battle he plans against Israel. Though none of the traditional opposition groups such as the Democratic or Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, have joined Arafat's Cabinet, their anti-Arafat tone has seemingly faded out. Many believe that the clear reference by Arafat to the need to maintain human rights and minimize corruption within Palestine has eased many of their worries.

But the main implication of the new Cabinet is a clear emphasis on the need to improve the Palestinian performance on the domestic level. With very little to do on the political front and talks with Israel, the Palestinian government will have a new set of priorities that need to be addressed in the coming period. Arafat spoke of the government's plan to continue its measures and steps to rebuild the infrastructure that was totally devastated through three decades of Israeli military occupation.

He also spoke of new laws, regulations and acts that are meant to safeguard the sovereignty of law and order and that would lay the foundations for a new system clean of corruption. This statement was directed at the harsh criticism the government Cabinet received over the past months in light of charges of misuse of power and corruption within the rank and file of the government.

And whereas much of the criticism came from the PLC itself, this time Arafat opted to assign a close aide to himself on top of a new ministry that never existed before. Nabil Amr will become government minister for PLC affairs, and his role will be to bridge and liaise between the executive and legislative branches. Moreover, most of the new ministers have come from the PLC itself, meaning a stronger representation for the legislative council in the Cabinet and possibly less criticism in the future.

The intensive consultations that President Arafat held over the last few days with regard to the formation of the new government are still expected to continue since two more ministries are still unmanned. Arafat decided to keep for himself the ministry of education, replacing outgoing minister Yasser Amr, until he finally finds a suitable candidate.

Additionally, the ministry of Islamic Waqf and Religious Affairs is without a minister. Palestinian sources expect a leading Fatah member of the PLC, Ahmad Zughayer, to replace the late minister Hassan Tahboub. Another candidate for the same portfolio is Jamil Othman, currently governor of Jerusalem in the Palestinian government.

Previous Stories:
  Palestinian Legislative Council ratifies general budget   (7/1/1998)
  PLO executive committee continues discussion of ministerial reshuffle   (6/20/1998)
  Palestinian council delays no-confidence vote in government   (6/18/1998)

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