Palestinian Lawmakers OK New Cabinet; Most Arafat Loyalists Out
JERUSALEM — Palestinian lawmakers ended days of rancorous debate Thursday and broke with the legacy of Yasser Arafat, giving their approval to a reformist Cabinet filled with technocrats and newcomers and nearly devoid of the late president's loyalists.
The 24 ministers, nearly three-quarters of them freshmen and two of them women, were sworn in late Thursday and were to start work today as the Palestinian Authority's first post-Arafat government.
In a sign of how the political scene has shifted since Arafat's death in November, the lineup includes only a couple of people, including Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Shaath, who are considered part of the old guard that surrounded Arafat.
Shaath, who also has the information portfolio, is the Cabinet's only elected legislator. Most of the new ministers are academics and professionals, a concession by Prime Minister Ahmed Korei to lawmakers who had insisted that the government abandon the cronyism and corruption of past years in favor of expertise.
Analysts described the Cabinet as an important step for President Mahmoud Abbas, who was elected last month as the Palestinians' top leader on promises of change in the government and in its dealings with Israel.
The Cabinet ministers will serve only until a new legislature is elected in July. And the fractiousness of Palestinian politics is unlikely to vanish any time soon. Still, many of the newly minted ministers espouse reform and are thought more likely to support an agenda of cleaning up the government.
"They are young and professional, and I think they are capable of carrying out their jobs," Abbas told reporters. "We have chosen them very carefully."
It wasn't without a fight. The Palestinian Legislative Council refused to sign off on Korei's previous slates, forcing the prime minister -- who was one of Arafat's intimates -- to overhaul the list several times. Each successive roster had fewer and fewer veterans, to satisfy the demands of junior lawmakers who have become increasingly emboldened in challenging the power of former Arafat loyalists.
Final approval seemed assured after Abbas intervened Wednesday, encouraging the hesitant to vote in favor of the latest lineup.
In contrast to previous days of debate, some of which stretched into the early morning, lawmakers Thursday ratified the Cabinet virtually without discussion by a comfortable margin, on a vote of 54 to 12. Some of them congratulated and embraced some of the candidates even before the vote was called.
