Palestinian Prime Minister-designate, Ismail Haniyya, stated on Saturday at night that the new Palestinian government headed by his movement, Hamas, will be sworn in on Wednesday following its ratification on Monday.
The Palestinian Legislative Council is set to convene on Monday to conduct the confidence vote on the 24-member cabinet. Hamas already guaranteed the confidence vote since it has a majority in parliament.
Haniyya told reporters on Saturday that the on Wednesday at the latest there will be a special session for the government to be sworn in before the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas.
Palestinian Presidency Secretary-General, Al-Tayyeb Abdul-Raheem, said that Abbas demanded Haniyya to conduct a vote on the government’s agenda, and demanded Hamas to hold its responsibilities and to avoid positions that could isolate the Palestinian people.
“All decision should be coherent with the Palestinian interests, the government should protect the achievements of the Palestinian people”, Abdul-Raheem stated, “We should not give Israel any chance or reason to continue its plans of expansion and forced solutions”.
Also, Abdul-Raheem added that Israel is trying to enforce unilateral solutions, and the so-called “state with temporal borders” instead of establishing the Palestinian independent state in the occupied territories since 1967.
Abdul-Raheem hinted that the president was preprepared use his authority to bring the Hamas-led government down if its policies harm the Palestinian interests.
Abbas sent a letter to Haniyya and informed him that he will use his authority according to the Basic Palestinian Law and bring the Hamas government down if its positions are detrimental to the Palestinian interests.
The basic law, which is the Palestinians’ de facto constitution, gives the president the authority to disband the government.
The Guardian Newspaper reported on Saturday that Abbas intends to warn the incoming government that “it has no future if it does not recognize Israel”.
According to the Guardian, Abbas told Haniyya in the letter that the policies of Hamas could damage or reverse the “diplomatic achievements” of the Palestinians and would give Israel a pretext not to hold negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
Also, the Guardian added that Abbas told Hamas that their policies, if not changed, would also cost the P.A much-needed international aid.
Palestinian Legislator, Dr. Saeb Erekat, reported on Saturday that a Palestinian investment fund will remain under the direct control of Abbas; the fund controls hundreds of million of dollars.
Erekat stated that Abbas intends to form a new presidential agency to oversee the border crossings linking P.A areas with Israel.
Erekat, who is the designated chief of the agency, said that its purpose would be to settle border disputes with Israel.
