Palestinian PM Disbanding, Rebuilding Cabinet

Posted on Feb 14, 2011

Wikimedia Commons / Decap (CC-BY-SA)

Salam Fayyad, right, shown here with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in 2009, is shaking things up in the Palestinian government.

In a move that has a little to do with the Egyptian revolution, or at least lip service is being paid to same, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced Monday that he will be swapping out his Cabinet for a new one in the next couple of weeks.  —KA

Los Angeles Times:

The announcement came as a surprise because the Palestine Liberation Organization, which created the authority, announced Saturday that it would hold long-delayed presidential and legislative elections by September, potentially replacing the government.

Palestinian officials presented the Cabinet reshuffling as a move to address growing calls for democratic reform, which elsewhere in the Arab world have led to leaders being ousted in Egypt and Tunisia.

“But even before Egypt, there has been a consensus for some time that the Cabinet needed to change,” said government spokesman Ghassan Khatib, noting that several positions have been left vacant for months. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “believes we are about to enter a new period with new challenges, and we need a new and fresh Cabinet.”

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