Palestinian factions agreed to form new unity government

The Palestinian unity government is about to become a reality. As the different factions have announced Tuesday  in a press conference in Gaza, though no agreement yet on the 15 ministers who will shape it. On Thursday, their names will be announced at a ceremony to be held in Ramallah (West Bank), led by President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of Fatah party. It only remains to close the name on Religious Affairs, Gordian knot for nationalist and Islamist partners who share common bets now.

The current prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, also of Al Fatah, will remain in office, and there have been no objections against, and repeated “three to four ministers” who already have a professional political profile. Because that is the essential quality of this unusual cabinet: its members are mostly good technocrats, above the faction to which they belong.

It must be so, sources confirm Fatah and Hamas because the challenge goes beyond the sharing of the pie, with the notice, within six months of presidential and legislative elections which are not held for the past eight years, the reconstruction of Security Forces and the future of the armed militias of the strip, the reunification of separated territories (Gaza and the West Bank) and reconciliation in power.

On 23 April, the Palestinian militias and parties agreed to implement the agreements closed in 2011 and 2012 in Cairo and Doha, which already argued for twinning and the elections. With three years late, now it seems that there are moves of no return. Fatah and Hamas, the two main blocks, took seven years of feuding after they won the legislative elections of 2006 and, the following year, the seized power in Gaza. Since then, the disconnect between regions of the same territory has been almost total.

This announcement caused Israel to break the “peace process”, since last July with the mediation of the United States. “Abbas chose terror over peace” then denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, abounding in both the U.S. and Europe consider Hamas or Islamic Jihad as terrorist organizations.

This shift is one of the main challenges for the coming weeks: the marriage between those who recognize Israel and negotiate with it and those calling for an end and justify violence. Abbas has said that the new cabinet will take “all political commitments” signed by the Organization for the Liberation of Palestine (PLO), which implies necessarily assume the legitimacy of his opponent and embrace nonviolence.

Despite the festive tone of the press conference in Gaza, the unit pulls some shadows, as organizations such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PDLP) have accused the other factions leaving them out of the debate. Deputy Fayez A. Fatah Saqqa, West Bank, insists, nevertheless, that “this is a reconciliation made with hand on heart, really ” for “all absolutely ” want to overcome the years of Cain shock. “We have taken the simple step of looking for the good men that lead us to call for elections. This makes us breathe, knowing that we were able to get here. We now need a deep and will work,” he recalls. In the five weeks later got to form a government, has already released the prisoners to pave the way.

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Posted by Khalil Khan on May 29 2014. Filed under Latest News, Middle East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.