Routledge Handbook on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Peters Joel; Newman David;

Author:Peters, Joel; Newman, David;
Language: nld
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge

Prime minister

Following the amended Basic Law of 2003, the president appoints the prime minister, with the latter then responsible for forming a government. There is no stipulation that the prime minister be drawn from the PLC. However, the legislative body is required to approve the cabinet by absolute majority in a vote of confidence. The initial prime minister back in 2003, Abbas was the first person granted the title since Ahmad Hilmi Abd al-Baqi headed the All Palestine Government in 1948 (Parsons 2005: 211). Set firmly against armed resistance and looking to unpick presidential powers, Abbas struggled to organize a unilateral Palestinian ceasefire just as he struggled to manage a recalcitrant Arafat. Furious internal politicking centred on control of the Interior Ministry and, through that, branches of the security apparatus. In Gaza, Abbas relied upon Hamas’s tormentor-in-chief Mohammed Dahlan; the strongman from Khan Yunis refugee camp was well placed to contain the opposition but was deeply resented as a result. Resisted by Arafat and those dependent upon him, Abbas resigned later in the year. He was replaced by his fellow Fatah CC member Ahmad Qurei, based in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis. Qurei proved somewhat more adept at managing Arafat and, as a member of the PLC, could claim at least some sort of constituency. He also kept a public distance from Israel and the United States. Qurei faced similar issues to Abbas, threatening to resign and actually doing so, but found himself maintained in office by Arafat. Qurei relinquished the post briefly at the end of 2006 to run for the PLC, during which time Fatah CC member Nabil Shaath held the reins. Qurei ultimately withdrew from the race for the PLC and remained in office until after the election. Real trouble arose when the poll generated a Hamas majority. Qurei was succeeded by Hamas’s Isma’il Haniyya, a resident of al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza. Haniyya was sworn in during March 2006, whereupon his Hamas-led government struggled on for just under a year in the face of Israeli and international sanctions. Hope of sorts appeared with a Saudi-brokered national unity government. But the arrangements quickly collapsed: Fatah provocations, at least partly engineered by Mohammed Dahlan, prompted Hamas to launch a pre-emptive coup in Gaza during June 2007, from which the Islamist movement emerged triumphant. From Ramallah, Abbas dismissed Haniyya by presidential fiat, with the latter continuing in office but restricted to Gaza. In the West Bank, Haniyya was replaced by Salam Fayyad, an economist with experience of the World Bank and IMF. Fayyad served as finance minister under Arafat from 2002 and continued under Abbas. Respected by Western donors, he was a pivotal figure in the history of PA reform; drawing on this reputation, he ran in the 2006 PLC elections as a member of the independent Third Way, winning a seat along with Hanan Ashrawi. The legality of Fayyad’s position was disputed by Hamas on the grounds that the PLC had not been afforded a vote on his appointment.

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