By KHALED ABU
TOAMEH
Fatah leaders and
officials who met with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat over the
weekend presented him with a list of ministers whom they said should not be
included in the new cabinet.
Arafat has promised
to form a new cabinet within two weeks after the present cabinet resigned over
a crisis of confidence with the Palestinian Legislative Council.
"We told the
president we don't want to see the same old faces in the new cabinet because
they are unacceptable," one official said.
He said the list
included the names of eight cabinet ministers whose names have been linked,
directly or indirectly, to mismanagement, misuse, and embezzlement of public
funds, as well as corruption in general.
The Fatah official
refused to say what Arafat's response was, but he added: "Arafat said he
fully understands our position and he too believes the time has come to make
changes. But he warned that we must not repeat Israeli and American propaganda
that is trying to characterize the PA as a corrupt regime."
The ministers who
appear on Fatah's "blacklist" are Minister of Information Yasser Abed
Rabbo, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nabil Sha'ath,
Minister of Sports and Youth Ali Qawasmeh, Minister of Social Welfare Intisar
al Wazir, Minister of Communications Imad Faluji, Minister of Civil Affairs
Jamil Tarifi, Minister of Supplies Abu Ali Shahin and Minister of Public Works
Azzam al Ahmed.
Arafat has been
holding consultations with several PA officials and Fatah operatives since his
21-member cabinet resigned for fear that it was about to lose the confidence of
the PLC. PA sources said Arafat decided to dissolve the cabinet when he
realized that the 88-member PLC was planning to topple it through a vote of
non-confidence.
Sep. 15, 2002
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