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Palestinian Reformers Drop PM Idea
Bringing reform efforts to a temporary halt, Yasser Arafat's Fatah abandoned the idea of prodding the Palestinian leader to relinquish some power by appointing a prime minister. The Fatah campaign had been the most serious political challenge in years to Arafat's autocratic rule. It was cut short by Israel's 10-day siege of Arafat's compound, which ended earlier this week under intense U.S. pressure and which was seen as boosting support for the Palestinian leader. In return, Bush signed the legislation moving our embassy to Jerusalem. Bad tradeoff, symbol over substance. On the other hand, with most of his house torn down, Yasser might not survive the next shootemup... Before the siege, Fatah had been pushing for the appointment of a prime minister who would run the day-to-day affairs of government. During a meeting of Fatah's Central Committee with Arafat late Tuesday, one of those present raised the issue, but it was then dropped, Planning Minister Nabil Shaath, a senior Fatah member, said Wednesday. "The consensus of the members is that the prime minister should be appointed after the establishment of a Palestinian state and drafting a constitution," Shaath said. Has Abu Mazen come back yet? Or is he still hiding in Jordan? Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2002-10-02 |
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