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<font size=3>The first national unity government is on its way<br><br>
<a href="http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=991&Itemid=1" eudora="autourl">
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=991&Itemid=1<br>
<br>
</a>(Qalqilia) Palestine News Network <br>
Monday, 13 November 2006 <br><br>
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The first national unity government is on its way, but the devil is in
the details as the saying goes. This will be government number 10 with
ministers distributed between all national parties in the Gaza Strip and
West Bank. <br><br>
Hamas will take the largest share of the cabinet as the major
parliamentary bloc after winning January's Legislative Council elections.
The new prime minister will be a Hamas member, as is current Prime
Minister Ismail Haniya. <br><br>
A high ranking official in Hamas told PNN that the party will have 12
ministers, with seven in the West Bank and and five in the Gaza Strip.
<br><br>
The Minister of the Interior will be Hamas and the Minister of Foreign
Affairs Fateh. Other high ministry positions will be agreed upon among
all of the parties. The proposed Deputy Prime Minister is Hamas and will
be divided between two people; one in the West Bank and one in the Gaza
Strip. <br><br>
A source in Fateh who wished to remain anonymous told PNN, “Hamas
proposed to President Abbas that the number of ministers in the Gaza
Strip exceed the number from the West Bank, but the President rejected
the request because the population of the Gaza Strip is just 39 percent
of the total.” <br><br>
He added that Fateh believes the Minister of the Interior must be Fateh
saying that security problems will prevail as most a Hamas member cannot
control security because most of the security forces are Fateh members.
<br><br>
A source referring to Hamas' current Interior Ministry which established
the Executive Forces that continually clashed with all of the other Fateh
security bodies said, “Hamas fears for the future of Executive Forces
that were recently established by the Interior Minister in the Gaza
Strip, in addition to the 1,500 member force it is moving towards in the
West Bank.” <br><br>
A source close to President Abbas and former Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia
said, “Hamas wants to leave the Minstry of Foreign Affairs to Fateh
because they know there were problems between President Mahmoud Abbas and
Farouk Qadumi. It wants to get rid of this painful issue. In addition,
the Minister would have no luck attracting funds under siege.” <br><br>
Regarding the speech of President Abbas, who was expected to remove the
current government, the Fateh source said, “President Abbas is under
enormous pressure from the United States. In order to not appear
vulnerable he added a sentence geared toward the Americans and the
European Union because he refused to be recorded in history as the one
who sparked a civil war.” <br><br>
The source added that when he talked to President Abbas regarding a time
frame for the unity government the President said that with good
intentions the government could be ready within a week, but if not, if
they are bogged down by details, discussions will go through the rest of
the year.<br><br>
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