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| Middle East |
| Arafat announces new government within 10 days |
| 2002-05-28 |
| Palestinian Chairman-for-Life Yasser Arafat vowed to have a new government within 10 days during a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in his Ramallah headquarters, cabinet secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman said. "The cabinet should change within a week, at latest in 10 days," he said. Yes, folks! It's longer, lower, leaner wider! But wait! There's more... The move, decided on at a Monday night meeting, would aim at streamlining the government as well as making its ministries more efficient and frugal. Twenty ministerial portfolios was deemed "an appropriate number" during the meeting. That's 20 high-paying jobs for Yasser's buddies, plus jobs for all the staff they can hire, plus jobs for their bodyguards and horse-holders... It was also proposed that "various political factions" participate in the new government as well as non-political figures, so as to "bring in new blood and vitality in governmental work and extend its popular base." Bet that means Hamas is gonna get a seat at the table... Arafat also said the Palestinian Authority's various security services would be reorganized, without indicating any specific date, according to the report. "The sweet by and by" sounds about right... Top Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rudeina added that an exact date for presidential and general elections would be announced within the coming days. "We have been working night and day and a date for the elections will be delivered in a few days," he said. And then another date a few days after that one... The Palestinian leadership recommended Monday that the elections be held in December this year. "The elections for the legislative council and the presidency can take place in December 2002," the leadership said in a statement after the Ramallah meeting chaired by Arafat. That's as far away as you can get and still be in this year... "The leadership has formed a ministerial commission to start preparing the municipal and union elections. This commission will start its work immediately," the statement said. The statement also called on "the international community to help our people exercise its democratic rights and elect its governing bodies in total freedom ... safe from occupation, military escalation and repression." Yeah. Damn them Jews fer makin' them poor Palestinians live under a bloody-handed kleptocracy! |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |