Candidates for the post of the Palestinian prime minister

Palestinian sources said yesterday that four names are being debated in the Palestinian circles as candidates for the post of the prime minister. A post which the chairman of the Palestinian authority Yasser Arafat agreed to initiate recently.

The sources explained that the four persons whose names are debated are Mahmoud Abbas the secretary of the executive committee of the PLO; Salaam Fayyad the financial official; Ahmad Qrei the chairman of the Palestinian legislative council and Nasser al-Qidwa the Palestinian representative at the UN.

The sources indicated that appointing a prime minister will not be before one month at least when Arafat will seek to convene a meeting for the Palestinian central council to be followed by a session for the legislative council in Ramullah until amending the law which governs the Palestinian Authority by adding a new article provides for appointing a prime minister.