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Palestinian parliament to vote on new cabinet
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-23 12:19

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie presents a revamped government list to parliament for endorsement on Wednesday in an effort to end a crisis that had threatened his job.

Qurie agreed to make sweeping changes to his new cabinet after it became apparent he would not win approval for the line-up he presented on Monday to a parliament demanding more reformers and fewer members of Yasser Arafat's old guard.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie smiles after a meeting with the Palestinian Legislative Council in the West Bank city of Ramallah February 22, 2005. Qurie agreed to revamp his cabinet with more reform-minded ministers and present the new government to parliament on Wednesday, defusing a political crisis. [Reuters]

The new list may make it easier for President Mahmoud Abbas to press ahead with a promised overhaul of the Palestinian Authority as he pursues peace efforts with Israel.

An outcry by lawmakers demanding a more significant move away from the corruption-tainted image of the late president Arafat's retinue forced Qurie to postpone the parliamentary vote by two days.

Abbas and a younger generation of pro-reform legislators in his and Qurie's Fatah faction had tried in recent weeks to persuade Qurie to include more newcomers and technocrats.

Qurie met faction members on Tuesday night to finalize a new list. Details were scant but Palestinian officials said they believed there would be around 10 new faces, compared with four in Qurie's first attempt.

Nasser Yousef and Mohammed Dahlan -- Abbas loyalists chosen to help him implement his program to reform the Palestinian Authority and its security services -- would take posts in the new government as Abbas had hoped, officials said.

Abbas is under pressure from the United States and other international donors to revamp around a dozen often competing security forces.

Qurie was still expected to retain some of his original choices, including Arafat loyalists such as Nabil Shaath, tipped to become deputy prime minister, and Saeb Erekat, a top spokesman.

"Abu Ala (Qurie) agreed to present a new government ... and this is an achievement for the Palestinian Legislative Council," Fatah lawmaker Hatem Abdel-Qader said.

In Gaza, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Fatah that has been behind attacks on Israelis, urged Abbas to sack Qurie, who was appointed by Arafat in 2003.

Prospects for peacemaking have brightened since Abbas succeeded Arafat last month on a platform of non-violence, and persuaded militants to abide by a de facto truce.

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