Palestinian Authority government of April 2003

The Palestinian Authority government of April 2003 was the first Palestinian government under the leadership of a prime minister. This office was created just a month earlier because the US and Israel had refused to negotiate with President Yasser Arafat over the future of the Palestinian territories.

The appointment of Abbas as prime minister did not bring the hoped-for movement to the peace process in the Middle East . He called for democratic reforms, the end of the Second Intifada , which he called a "mistake", the public appointment of a prime minister with extensive powers and the strengthening of parliament. Since these demands would inevitably have led to Arafat's disempowerment, he sabotaged Abbas' work. This and the lack of support within the population, who saw him as a "puppet of Israel" and linked Abbas' family to corruption , made his work more difficult. Above all, the fight against terror, which Israel and its Prime Minister Ariel Sharon demanded as a prerequisite for Israeli concessions, could not be effectively advanced under Abbas.

Abbas eventually failed as prime minister after the so-called "road map" ( Roadmap ), the peace plan for the Palestinian territories , Palestinian by several suicide bombings and an Israeli missile attack on Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin in August 2003 had failed. Abbas then submitted his resignation to Yasser Arafat on September 6, after just 100 days, who accepted the resignation and asked him to remain in office until a new cabinet was formed. A day later, Mahmoud Abbas officially announced his resignation as Palestinian Prime Minister and justified his decision, in addition to the disappointment at the lack of support in the Palestinian parliament, with Israel's refusal to participate constructively in the peace plan. He went on to express his displeasure that Israel was being put under too little pressure by the international community , especially the US.

Arafat installed Ahmad Qurai , the previous President of Parliament, as Abbas's successor . On September 10th he agreed to take over the office. However, Qurai was considered to be much less reliable than Abbas, as he was accused of corruption on a large scale, among other things.

composition

minister	portfolio	Political party
Mahmoud Abbas	Prime Minister , Home Affairs	Fatah
Wet Yousef	Deputy Prime Minister	Fatah
Salam Fayyad	Finance (since June 2002)	Independently
Nabil Shaath	Foreign Affairs	Fatah
Maher al-Masri	Trade and Economy (since 1996)	Fatah
Mohammed Dahlan	safety	Fatah
Saeb Erekat *	Negotiations with Israel	Fatah
Yasser Abed Rabbo		FIDA
Azzam al-Shawa	Energy and natural resources	Independently
Intissar al-Wazir	Social (since 1995)	Fatah
Kamal al-Sharafi	health	Independent (Ex- PFPL )
Jamal Shobaki	Local politics	Fatah
Ziad Abu Amr	Culture	Independently
Nabil Amr	information	Fatah
Hischam Abdel Rasek	Inmate affairs	Fatah
Nabil Kassis	planning	Independently
Hamdan al-Shour	House building and public buildings	Fatah
Naim Abul Hummus	education and parenting
Abdel-Fatah Hamayal	Youth and sport	Independently
Ghassan Khatib	job	PPP
Abdel-Karim Abu Salah	Judiciary	Fatah
Rafik al-Natshe	Agriculture	Fatah
Saadi al-Krunz	transport
Mitri Abu Aita	tourism	Independently
Ahmed Majdalwi	without department	Popular Struggle Front
Sahjreh Kamal	without department	FIDA
Hakam Bala'wi	Secretary General of the Council of Ministers	Fatah

* Resigned May 16, 2003 after being excluded from meeting Ariel Sharon . This action was interpreted as part of the power struggle between Arafat and Abbas. Erekat was reinstated on September 4, 2003.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ CNN : "Palestinian prime minister Abbas resigns" , September 6, 2003