Not better but worse

Abbas has reappointed his unpopular premie

Pre-empting the outcome of national dialogue, Mahmoud Abbas has reappointed his unpopular premier. It won't do him good, writes Khaled Amayreh in Ramallah

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After repeated deference, mainly due to opposition from the Fatah movement, a new Palestinian government headed by incumbent Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was sworn in on Tuesday in Ramallah. The new cabinet comprises 20 ministers, seven of them members of the outgoing government. Said Abu Ali, the governor of Ramallah, is the new interior minister.

One of the major challenges facing Abu Ali is how he will relate to political opposition, especially Hamas. The movement has gained more popularity in the West Bank, especially since the bloody Israeli blitz on Gaza four months ago. Hundreds of Hamas supporters and sympathisers have been rounded up by the Palestinian Authority (PA) security apparatus as part of an all-out campaign to punish the Islamic movement for ousting Fatah from the Gaza Strip nearly two years ago.

Several Fatah members have joined the new cabinet despite opposition from the Fatah parliamentary bloc. The bloc decided to boycott the new government during an emergency meeting in Ramallah on Tuesday. "We object to the way the government was formed. The government was formed without any coordination with the leaders of the movement," said Ashraf Jumaa, a Fatah representative. Jumaa's remarks reveal the persistence of sharp differences within Fatah whose top leader is PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

Fatah has been undergoing an unprecedented internal crisis stemming from the movement's failure to hold its long-overdue Sixth Congress. The last congress was held in Algiers in 1989.

Earlier this week, more than 80 Fatah activists released to the media a harshly worded leaflet against Abbas, accusing the Palestinian leader of "seriously undermining the movement". "We are fed up with what is happening within Fatah. It is time we speak up loudly in protest against the behaviour of Executive Committee member Mahmoud Abbas. We reject his authoritarian decisions concerning Fatah and the Sixth Congress."

The signatories warned that Abbas's behaviour constituted a "scandalous violation of Fatah's constitution as well as a serious deviation from its struggle". Their statement continued: "Abbas's behaviour is tantamount to a coup against the leadership of the movement by way of imposing his personal decisions on the movement, aided by some bad advisors who have changed their skin."

The leaflet also castigated Abbas's decision to hold the Sixth Congress in the West Bank, which means that many Fatah leaders in the Diaspora -- like head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Political Department, Farouk Al-Qadoumi -- won't be able to participate due to Israeli objections. Al-Qadoumi has been a consistent critic of the Oslo process and has harshly criticised the Ramallah-based regime for "collaborating and coordinating with Israel".

"Is it acceptable to see the veteran leaders of the Palestinian struggle attend the conference after receiving Israeli permits, especially in light of the fact that many of them are still hounded by the Mossad?" the signatories asked. The leaflet stressed that Fatah "will never ever recognise the Zionist regime and all the agreements that won't shield us from the perfidy of our enemy".

In addition to opposition from Fatah's parliamentary bloc, two other PLO factions said they would boycott the new government. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said the new government would consolidate the "national rift between Hamas and Fatah" and eventually "undermine Palestinian national interests". The Palestine People's Party (PPP), formerly the Communist Party, has also declared its opposition to the new government, much for the same reasons.

For its part, Hamas strongly denounced the formation of the new government, arguing that it would place further obstacles in the path of Palestinian national reconciliation. "The formation of a new illegitimate government in the West Bank at a time national dialogue sessions are ongoing in Cairo constitutes an additional political, legal and constitutional chaos," said Hamas's spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum.

Barhoum accused Abbas of treating contemptuously popular Palestinian demands for the dismissal of Fayyad. "The government will remain illegal and unconstitutional and Hamas will not recognise or deal with it," he added.

Hamas and Fatah have just concluded yet another round of Egyptian-sponsored talks in Cairo. While no breakthrough has been reached, the two sides reportedly narrowed the previously large gap between their respective positions.

According to Hamas officials taking part in the talks, the main point of contention is the restructuring of security forces in both Gaza and the West Bank. Fatah is insisting that a joint force of 15,000 members be established to assume security responsibility throughout the Gaza Strip. Rejecting the proposal, Hamas proposed an overall restructuring of PA security forces in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The two factions are supposed to meet again in Cairo at an undetermined date. Egypt has warned the two sides that it won't allow endless and fruitless meetings between Fatah and Hamas and that Egypt may eventually be forced to present "compulsory bridging proposals" that the two sides must accept.

According to Hani Al-Masri, a prominent political analyst, the new government will be less able to serve Palestinian national goals: "A government not based on national consensus is going to be weak and utterly unable to stand in the face of the right-wing government in Israel. The issue is not who will occupy this or that portfolio. The real issue is the nonexistence of a comprehensive national political platform that would end the Israeli occupation. This is the crux of the matter."

Indeed, the Fayyad government, despite its rhetorical proclamations against Israel, has utterly failed to impede Israel's efforts to expand Jewish colonies in the West Bank, and especially in the Jerusalem region. The government has also miserably failed in safeguarding the human rights and civil liberties as thousands of Palestinians, particularly Islamic activists have been incarcerated without charge or trial, with some even tortured to death.

Under the Fayyad government, the security agencies, such as the Preventive Security Services and the Mukhabarat, or general intelligence, assumed disproportionate powers, in many instances outside the rule of law.

Finally, the formation of the new government is likely to further undermine the popularity of Abbas and his allies while strengthening the standing of their opponents within Fatah, especially Marwan Barghouti, the imprisoned Fatah leader.

Abbas on several occasions suggested that he had no choice but to retain Fayyad as prime minister since dismissing him wouldn't bode well with Western powers that pay the salaries of tens of thousands of PA civil servants and security personnel and generally keep the PA financially afloat. One PA official, who is close to Abbas, summarised the whole issue in a few words: "He who pays the piper, decides the tune."