9-13-06, 9:09 am
GAZA, Palestine, September 12, 2006 (IPC + Agencies) - - Informed sources asserted that President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to dissolve the current government within the next 48 hours and tasks the current Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya, with forming a new, national unity government based on the agreement that was reached between both leaders yesterday.
In a statement to the press on Monday, President Abbas said that 'an agreement has been reached with the Prime Minister Ismail Haniya regarding the political program of the coming national unity government.'
Following a meeting with PM Haniya at his Gaza office, the President confirmed that the new government's program will based on the National Understanding Agreement.
'Efforts will be focused in the next few days on forming the national unity government,' President Abbas said, calling on the Palestinian people to support these efforts.
On his part, Prime Minister Haniya said that the 'agreement is expected, because our intentions and approaches are sincere,' asserting that both he and President Abbas had in mind the higher interests of the Palestinian people and the protection of his rights and constants when discussing the formation of the government.
Haniya demanded the Palestinian people provide a desirable atmosphere to form this government, and that civil servants break their strike and return to their work.
President Abbas had also called the international community to end its siege of the Palestinian people, following his meeting with Haniya, and described the siege as 'just and unjustified, because the Palestinian people has suffered too much.'
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said after the meeting that 'the main issue is the agreement that was reached this [Monday] afternoon, which is the formation of the national unity government based on the Prisoners' Document.'
Abu Rudeina added that the Palestinian consensus on the government aims to face the current challenges, stressing the importance of this step to unify the stance of the Palestinian people politically, through an agenda that would end the isolation and the siege.
On his part, Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member representing Hamas movement Khalil Al Hayyeh congratulated the Palestinian people 'on making large strides on the path of forming the national unity government, which is part of the national understanding that we agreed upon and signed.'
On the other hand, PLC member representing the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Jamil Al Majdalawi stressed the need to formulate a clear political program that ensures actual participation for all the Palestinian factions.
However, Islamic Jihad leader Khadr Habib reiterated his movement's position of not participating in the coming government, arguing that this attitude was 'out of the movement's concern for the Palestinian interest.'
Habib, however, added that the Islamic Jihad will support any Palestinian government, and blesses the formation of the national unity government.
Earlier, PLC member Dr. Ziyad Abu Amr, who is close to both the presidency and the government, told Al-Ayyam Newspaper that the national unity government is expected to be formed before the deadline given by the Basic Law.
'This is because the President and the Prime Minister are keen on finding a way out of the current internal and external crises, which are suffocating the Palestinian people,' Dr. Abu Amr said.
Abu Amr, who attended both meetings held between President Abbas and PM Haniya, revealed that the parameters of the political program of the government were stated in the content of the agreement between both leaders.
'The parameters of the national unity government's political program are based mainly on the National Understanding Agreement (the Prisoners' Document) and are inspired from it,' he stated.
He further mentioned that the legal procedures for forming the government will be completed within the next few days by President Abbas, including the decree in which he will task PM Haniya with forming the government, according to the Basic Law.
Abu Amr described the atmosphere of the Abbas-Haniya meeting as 'very positive, deep and clear,' asserting that 'the agreement brought a high sense of achievement, which is a very positive feeling.'
From International Press Center
