Acting Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyya, stated on Wednesday that all talks regarding the unity government were concluded, and that the minister of interior had been named, the Maan News Agency reported.
Haniyya stated that Hani Al Qawasmi was named as the upcoming Minister of Interior.
In a press conference that followed his Wednesday night meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas, Haniyya said that the legal procedures for forming the unity government will start Thursday and that the government will be presented to the Legislative Council on Saturday.
“This night, we finalized all of the procedures”, Haniyya stated, “Everything will be presented when we submit the government's agenda”.
Nabil Abu Rodeina, spokesperson of president Abbas, stated that “the government will see the light on Thursday”.
“We call on the upcoming Arab summit and the World to recognize the government, and we call on all Palestinian parties to maintain national unity”, Abu Rodeina said, “The government will present its agenda which will be declared by the Prime Minister, it will set the principles of its unity deal which will be approved by the legislative council”.
Regarding the international community and its recognition of the new government, Abu Rodeina said that “the Palestinians will be united, and will tell the whole world that this is our unity government, and you have to deal with it”.
Dr. Ghazi Hamad, government spokesperson, said that the Palestinians decided to be united under one government, and that their choice is national unity.
“We have tough tasks ahead”, Hamad stated, “we hope that the Arab Summit in Riyadh will open the way towards lifting the siege”.
Meanwhile, Al Qawasmi said that he had not been officially informed of the decision, and that he only heard about it through the media.
He added that he will wait for the official decree before he makes any statements.
The family of Al Qawasmi is from Hebron, he was born in Gaza city in 1958. He studied Law at Al Azhar University in Egypt, and returned to the Gaza Strip in 1983.
He worked at Al Azhar College in Gaza for ten years, and worked for seven years at the Ministry of Civil Affairs before he started working in Religious Courts.
He was recently appointed as the head of Administrative Affairs at the Ministry of Interior.
