| Submit your comments on this article |
| Middle East |
| Yasser's cabinet is toast... |
| 2002-09-11 |
| The Palestinian Cabinet resigned Wednesday after Yasser Arafat (1929-2002?) lost a showdown with parliament — the most serious challenge to the Palestinian leader since he returned from exile in 1994. Earlier in the day, Arafat had set Jan. 20 as a date for presidential and parliamentary elections in an attempt to defuse the confrontation with disgruntled legislators who accused him of making only halfhearted efforts to reform his administration. First y'gotta have the opinion that some sort of reform is needed... The maneuver failed, and legislators insisted on moving forward with a no-confidence vote on the 21-member Cabinet. The cabinet used to be much bigger. It was 31 members. It's still about ten larger than it needs to be... The move did not appear to immediately endanger Arafat's leadership. However, it was a blow to his prestige and reflected a groundswell of discontent. "There is a crisis of confidence," said lawmaker Salah Taameri, a veteran member of Arafat's Fatah movement. "Believe us when we say it's serious." What do you do when your dictator's become powerless? Arafat now has two weeks to present parliament with a new Cabinet list. Thanx to Steve for the headzup! He sez he heard Janet Reno's looking for a job... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 Well, they had the balls, but they (the balls, that is) were to tired to assert themselves after the boys strolled past that herd of goats on the way to the meeting... Where's PETA when you need them? |
| Posted by: Brian M. 2002-09-11 19:38:52 |
| #1 If his parliament had really wanted to take at least 50%+ of the government power they'd have had the balls to elect a Prime Minister - with or, even better, without Ararat's OK |
| Posted by: Frank G 2002-09-11 16:42:15 |