Khaled Amayreh, a Hebron-based writer who tends to sympathize with Hamas and reflect their point of view and always provides sage analysis, has a nice overview of the problems facing the Fayad government going forward, including the daunting task of reigning in the many rogue Fatah militias in the West Bank. You can read the whole piece here:
Unfortunately, experience shows that Fatah, particularly its largely undisciplined and numerous militias and gangs, has a record of refusing to acknowledge the authority of previous Palestinian governments whether in Ramallah or in Gaza. The organisation may prove to be even more at odds with a government led by a “Western-oriented’ prime minister who believes that all militia men and security agencies ought to be answerable to his office.
If Fayyad fails to deliver, namely by ending the rampant anarchy and chaos in the West Bank (Hamas by contrast seems to have succeeded in restoring a semblance of calm back on the streets of Gaza), he could very soon find himself overwhelmed by frustration and helplessness. In this case, he would have no choice but to resign.
3 responses so far ↓
1 BUSYBODY! // Jun 24, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Hamas restored order?
Arent you ashamed to write crap like that without saying
AT THE POINT OF A GUN!
Anyone stepping out of line gets shot, NO?
If order is restored, how come the TERROR LOVING BBC ‘reporter” isnt free?
Of course we wont mention the Jew SOLDIER!
You are a HAMAS SICK O PHANT!
2 joe // Jun 25, 2007 at 2:33 am
if you have a chance, can you ask some of the new ministers whether they recognize their own government as legal? i don’t know whether you saw it, but virginia tilley had an article on electronic intifada where she stated:
According to the Basic Law, Abbas has violated a whole stream of Articles as well as the spirit of its checks and balances, which were designed during the Arafat era partly to limit the power of the presidency. With full US and Israel support (if not their insistence), Abbas has baldly trashed numerous provisions of the Basic Law, including:
# The President can sack his Prime Minister (Article 45) but he cannot legally appoint a new Prime Minister that does not represent the majority party (i.e., Hamas).
# In the event that a President sacks the PM, the Government is considered to have resigned (Article 83), but the serving Cabinet (here, the Hamas-led Cabinet) is supposed to govern until a new Cabinet is confirmed by the Legislative Council (Article 78).
# Only the Legislative Council can confirm the new PM and Cabinet and the new officials cannot take their oaths (Article 67) or assume their duties (Article 79) until this is done. We might now look for the Fayyad government to go to the Legislative Council for post hoc approval, but if the Legislative Council cannot vote for lack of a quorum — because too many of its members are in jail or refuse to participate — then the Cabinet cannot be legally confirmed. The Basic Law provides no remedy for conditions where the Legislative Council cannot vote to confirm the Cabinet or the actions of the President.
# The President can rule by degree during emergencies (Article 43) but the Legislative Council must approve all these decrees at its first meeting.
# The President cannot suspend the Legislative Council during a state of emergency (Article 113).
# The President has no power to call early elections, either.
# The Basic Law has no provision whatsoever for an “emergency government.”
3 TAFAS // Jun 25, 2007 at 3:15 am
Offtopic: New Johnston-Video
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b2c_1182727196
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