Salah Albardawil, spokesman of the Hamas bloc at the Palestinian Legislative Council, confirmed Monday that the names of the new Palestinian cabinet will be made public within the next few days.
Albardawil stated that the post of Information Minister will likely be given to Mustafa Albarghouthi of the Independent Palestine bloc and that other ministers are likely to have been named by the weekend.
“Until this moment, other ministers remain unnamed, but Salam Fayad will be designated as Finance Minister, while Ziyad Abu Amr, will be the Foreign Affairs Minister”, albardawil said.
He added that Fayad accepted the designation, as Hamas bloc will be naming it's candidates in accordance with it's own criterions, set forth through a Shura (consultation) council.
As for the post of Interior Minister, Albardawil maintained that so far it has not been named, voicing hope that the upcoming bilateral Hamas-Fatah talks would conclude the issue.
The Palestinian Prime Minister designate had expected that his cabinet would eventually be installed by early March. All Palestinian factions' representatives including major rivals Hamas and Fatah have been involved over the past several days in talks to form a national unity, based on the recent Makkah pact, which laid the foundation for a new chapter of Hamas-Fatah relations following the internecine infighting of the past three months.
The Quartet for promoting Middle East peace, comprised of United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia, has expressed reservations over the Makkah deal, reiterating three demands, recognition of Israel, renunciation of violence and acceptance of signed agreements as conditions for acknowledging the upcoming Palestinian government.
The outgoing Hamas-led government has declared it would respect international legitimacy resolutions including the Palestine Liberation Organization’s obligations, yet it detached itself from ostensibly accepting the Quartet’s demands.
