Qurei amends ministerial formation, proposes it to parliament today

The Palestinian prime minister Ahmad Qurei gave up the formation of his government discussed before the Palestinian legislative council and asked the parliament to convene a session today to introduce his new government.

Qurei said before a session for the Palestinians legislative council in Ramullah on Tuesday that it was agreed to form a government of "technocrats." The Palestinian minister Qaddoura Fares announced that the new formation for Qurei's government will include only two members from the Legislative Council. This was after the agreement among the leaderships of the Palestine national liberation organization ( Fatah) to have most members of the government from outside the council. According to Palestinian sources, Qurei made fundamental amendments to include figures described as reform minded. Fares indicated that four ministers accused of corruption will be excluded.

The cadres of fatah movement held a series of meetings on Monday evening in order to discuss the possibility of amending the proposed governmental formation and ensuring it has needed confidence. These meetings witnessed strong differences over the distribution of the ministerial positions, and over having figures occupying official posts since more than 10 years.

The assembly suspended its meeting on Monday after Qurei introduced a government that included 23 parliamentarians out of 27 who said they will vote against the government and called for removing ministers who are said to be corrupted.