Palestinian cabinet reshuffle deepens Fatah-Hamas split
A surprise reshuffle of the Palestinian Authority has angered the Islamist movement Hamas. There are nine new ministers in the 24-member cabinet.
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President Mahmoud Abbas announced the reshuffle earlier in the day at a press conference to celebrate a sports and media conference, labelling it a “surprise” for journalists.
The reshuffle increased the number of ministers affiliated to Abbas’s Fatah movement as well as from organisations such as the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and some independents.
The action drew intense criticism from Fatah’s political opponents Hamas, with party spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum taking to Facebook to condemn the new arrangement for lacking approval from the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Labelling the move a “patching policy”, Barhoum said that it will bring no benefit to Palestinian citizens.
The choice to engage in a reshuffle rather than form a long-awaited unity government contradicts the agreement between Fatah and Hamas in Doha, Qatar, earlier this year.
The decision saw Mahmoud Abbas chosen to serve as both president and prime minister, although the current reshuffle retains Prime Minister Salam Fayyed in the position.
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