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| Middle East |
| Reforms? Whatever for? |
| 2002-05-05 |
| Palestinian officials said angry exchanges erupted among senior officials during Fridayâs meeting â the first since the Israeli offensive â as they debated the nature of changes needed and how to bring them about. They said some wanted a cabinet reshuffle to trim some of the 30 ministries, and to bring various branches of the Palestinian security apparatus under one command. That would involve doing away with high-level policy positions. Somebody's relatives might have to get jobs. Others demand more sweeping reforms, including enhancing the powers of the Palestinian Legislative Council in monitoring the cabinetâs performance, as well as overhauling the judiciary. Critics have accused Arafatâs administration of being autocratic and corrupt. But only once. Then their cars explode. Mohammed Dahlan, head of Palestinian Preventive Security in the Gaza Strip, said the change must include various bodies of the Palestinian Authority. But he's on the hit list, so nobody'll listen to him... The cabinet agreed to form a commission that will draw up ideas for changes in the PAâs institutions and security services. It said it would hold several open sessions to chart a plan for âpolitical and administrative reformâ as it begins to rebuild infrastructure devastated by Israel's military operation. Hell, yeah. Forming a committee always works... The cabinet also welcomed the US idea of an international peace conference and said it remained committed to a âcomprehensive peace in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from all Arab and Palestinian landsâ — position past and present Israeli governments have rejected. The cabinet stated its âcondemnation of all forms of terrorism.â Which is defined as Israeli existence or not letting Palestinians have their way... In a statement issued after Fridayâs meeting, the cabinet also said the leadership would remain in open session to hear various proposals and ideas on the needed changes. âThe coming stage requires new policies and various changes,â said Nabil Abu Rdainah, Arafatâs spokesman. So what are they gonna be? Leading PA members have recently demanded changing the commanders of the Palestinian security forces, following the IDF operation. PA sources said after Nabil Amr's resignation that there have been growing demands among Palestinians to make far-reaching changes in the cabinet and even for placing cabinet members and senior officials on trial, citing funds that had disappeared after the physical and administrative collapse of their institutions. They claim that some of the vast sums of money came from donations made to the PA and for support of the uprising. Whazzat? Funds sticking to the fingers of PA functionaries? Who ever heard of such a thing? Last night Arafat called a meeting of the PLOâs Executive Committee, its first since the siege placed on Ramallah. The committee discussed changes in the cabinet and the current political situation. Arafat himself has remained in the Mukata since the removal of the siege, with cabinet members from Ramallah and other West Bank towns coming there to meet with him. He's staying out of rifle range... Arafat will have to use his influence to prevent attacks by Palestinian terrorists to enable the US to present its peace plan and pressure Israel to resume talks based on the ideas, Palestinian Authority sources said. Hamas has already said it will launch a new wave of terror attacks. They'll probably wait until something leading to a lessening of hostilities occurs, though... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |