Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday named a longtime senior inside the authority as prime minister, rejecting international pressure to strengthen the position of an independent prime minister who could revitalize the sclerotic government.
Mr. Abbas, who’s 88 years old and has long ruled by decree, appointed Muhammad Mustafa, a detailed economic adviser, to switch prime minister and signed a document charging him with forming a brand new government, in line with Wafa, a Palestinian Authority official. Mustafa has three weeks to accomplish that, but under Palestinian law it could take an extra two weeks if mandatory.
The document, which Mr. Abbas handed to Mr. Mustafa, said the government’s priorities should include leading efforts to offer humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, rebuilding what was destroyed in the war between Israel and Hamas, and affirming plans and mechanisms for the reunification of Palestinian structures government in the West Bank and the coastal enclave.
He also called for “continuing the reform process.”
The majority of Palestinian society views the Palestinian Authority as tainted by corruption, mismanagement and cooperation with Israel.
As president, Abbas continues to go the government. Lacking a functional parliament, Mr. Abbas long ruled by decree and exercised wide influence over the judicial and prosecutorial systems. No presidential elections have been held in the Palestinian territories since 2005, and no legislative elections have been held since 2006.
In late February, Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh resigned from his cabinet, citing the need for a brand new government that “takes into account the emerging reality in the Gaza Strip.” Mr. Shtayyeh’s government continued to act as caretaker government.
Hamas led a deadly attack from the Gaza Strip on Israel on October 7, and Israel responded with intense bombardment and invasion, vowing to interrupt the group’s grip on the enclave. However, these events have raised difficult questions on how post-war Gaza is governed and reconstructed.
The Palestinian Authority has limited governing powers in the West Bank. It lost control of Gaza to Hamas in an influence struggle in 2007.
In recent months, the United States has called for a change to the widely unpopular Palestinian Authority, hoping it’ll eventually take over the reins of presidency in Gaza after the war. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected this role of power.
While the Biden administration has not told Abbas whom to nominate as prime minister, it has conveyed that it hopes for an independent one who can be acceptable to abnormal Palestinians, the international community and Israel, in line with Western diplomats who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he doesn’t were authorized to seek advice from the media.
National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson – wrote in the statement that the Biden administration welcomed the nomination and pushed for “the formation of a reform cabinet as soon as possible.”
In the Palestinian Authority, the prime minister is alleged to supervise the work of ministries, but analysts say Abbas often intervenes in the decision-making process.
Nasser al-Qudwa, a former foreign minister whose name has been mentioned as a possible prime minister, said before Abbas’s election was announced that Mustafa’s appointment would mean “no real change.”
“This would replace one employee named Mohammed with another employee named Muhammad, while Abbas still holds all the cards. What is the change?” said Mr. Qudwa, a fierce opponent of Mr. Abbas, also generally known as Abu Mazen. “Abu Mazen wants to maintain the status quo. He wants to keep all the power in his own hands.
In addition to serving as an adviser to Mr. Abbas, Mr. Mustafa, an economist educated at George Washington University in Washington, is also president of the Palestine Investment Fund, whose board is appointed by the president of the government. Previously, he was the Minister of Economy and Deputy Prime Minister of this body.
For weeks, Mr. Abbas has signaled his desire to appoint Mr. Mustafa. In January, he sent Mustafa to the World Economic Forum’s annual conference in Davos, where heads of state and foreign ministers gather to discuss global affairs.
At the conference, Mustafa stated that he believed the Palestinian Authority could improve its governance. “We don’t want to make excuses for anyone,” he said in a wide-ranging discussion with Borge Brende, chairman of the forum. “The Palestinian Authority can do more to build better institutions.”
In his recent position, Mustafa will likely face enormous challenges that would include attempting to rebuild the devastated Gaza Strip and improving the government’s credibility.
Some analysts, nonetheless, consider that the assessment of the recent government needs to be reserved until the public learns the identity of its ministers and the scope of power and independence they will exercise.
“We shouldn’t rush into predicting that it will fail,” Ibrahim Dalalsha, director of the Horizon Center for Political Studies and Media Outreach, a political evaluation group based in Ramallah, West Bank. “We’ll have to wait and see how it performs.”
