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Palestinian leader âhalts work on cabinetâ
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas halted efforts on Saturday to form a new Palestinian cabinet, sources told United Press International. Rest Stop on the 'Roadmap'? The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the move by Abu Mazen -- as the prime minister is known â followed sharp disputes with both Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian Central Council members. Using the only leverage he has The PCC of the Palestine Liberation Organization convened in the West Bank town of Ramallah and the meeting was chaired by Arafat. Abu Mazen attended the meeting. The sources said that during the meeting, Arafat raised several issues related to forming the new cabinet, and members began to argue with Abu Mazen, who stormed out and returned home. Arafat won't give up.... The sources said that several members of the PCC followed him and sought to convince him to return to the meeting, but he had refused to go back to Arafat's headquarters. They said he also told PCC members that he didn't want to continue forming the new Palestinian Authority cabinet and threatened to resign. However, Palestinian parliamentary sources denied reports saying that he had actually resigned. According to these parliamentary sources, Abu Mazen can't just resign unilaterally but must go through legislative measures that involve the Palestinian Legislative Council. They said that Abu Mazen would have to inform the PLC of his inability to form a new cabinet and tender his resignation. Sounds a lot like a mini-EU At that point, Arafat would appoint a new prime minister. Someone who follows orders better I guess The sources said that a major problem was that Arafat hadn't given Abu Mazen enough latitude in forming the cabinet and this had worsened relations between the two.
Posted by: Frank G 2003-04-19 |
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