WEST BANK: PALESTINIAN LAWMAKERS APPROVE PRIME MINISTER DESIGNATE ABBAS'S NEW CABINET
Record ID:
231236
WEST BANK: PALESTINIAN LAWMAKERS APPROVE PRIME MINISTER DESIGNATE ABBAS'S NEW CABINET
- Title: WEST BANK: PALESTINIAN LAWMAKERS APPROVE PRIME MINISTER DESIGNATE ABBAS'S NEW CABINET
- Date: 29th April 2003
- Summary: (W4) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (APRIL 29, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS, PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT AND PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER DESIGNATE WALKING INTO PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL HALL/ YASSER ARAFAT SHAKING HANDS WITH PALESTINIAN OFFICIAL AND MAKING VICTORY SALUTE 0.29 (W5) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (APRIL 29, 2003) (REUTERS) 2. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE 0.37 3. SMV (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER-DESIGNATE, MAHMOUD ABBAS SAYING: "Our patriotic message/mission is that we are committed to the fight of the occupation in all its forms and shapes and in organising our our interior situation - committed to the essential law that the legislative council that president Arafat had launched - and here, the government promises in keeping this law in all it's shapes and keeping all the leadership circles. so we don't see any disrespect of it or any disorder in the society, that's because our way in applying is a realistic image of our capacity in the state, and our respect of the constitution and our government will not deal easily with everyone who tries to go over the law." 1.38 4. WIDE OF LEGISLATION COUNCIL 1.46 (W6) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (APRIL 29, 2003) (REUTERS) 4. WIDE OF PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL MEETING HALL 1.55 5. SMV PLC SPEAKER, AHMED KOREI STANDING NEXT TO INCOMING PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER MAHMOUD ABBAS 2.00 6. CLOSE OF PLC SPEAKER AHMED KOREI SPEAKING (NO TRANSCRIPT) 2.12 7. WIDE OF MEETING HALL WITH CABINET MEMBERS RAISING HANDS FOR VOTE 2.27 8. CLOSE OF ABBAS 2.30 9. WIDE OF MEMBERS VOTING, THEN APPLAUDING 2.36 10. SMV ABBAS SMILING SHAKING HANDS WITH PLC SPEAKER 2.43 11. WIDE OF MEMBERS CLAPPING HANDS 2.50 12. SMV ABBAS AND KOREI 2.51 13. WIDE OF HALL 2.53 14. SMV KOREI READING ANNOUNCEMENT THEN KISSING ABBAS 3.08 15. WIDE OF MEETING HALL 3.09 16. SMV CABINET MEMBERS STANDING/ PULLOUT TO WIDE OF HALL 3.22 17. WIDE OF MEMBERS IN MEETING HALL 3.34 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 14th May 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Reuters ID: LVABOWFE2H9M0LFPYZLTF8QMZL8
- Story Text: Palestinian lawmakers have approved a new cabinet led
by reformist Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, known as Abu Mazen,
in a key step towards the introduction of a U.S.-led plan for
Middle East peacemaking.
With President Yasser Arafat at his side, prime
minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday (April 29) pledged
to end "armed chaos" in Palestinian areas, but did not say
how.
The militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups swiftly vowed
not to disarm until Israeli occupation ended.
At the session, Abbas also named his new cabinet. He also
said the Palestinians would fulfil security and political
obligations under the "road map" and urged Israel to do the
same.
A Palestinian Authority crackdown on militant Palestinian
groups behind attacks on Israelis in a 31-month-old uprising
for statehood is a key part of the peace "road map", which the
United States said it would release upon approval of Abbas'
cabinet.
Israel has said there could be no move towards an
independent Palestinian state envisaged by the plan by 2005,
unless Abbas demonstrated that real action was being taken
against militants.
Arafat and Abbas put up a united front at the Palestinian
Legislative Council, entering the chamber together at the
start of deliberations on endorsing the first Palestinian
prime minister and an anti-corruption cabinet dedicated to
reform.
"Our patriotic message/mission is that we are committed
to the fight of the occupation in all its forms and shapes and
in organising our our interior situation - committed to the
essential law that the legislative council that president
Arafat had launched - and here, the government promises in
keeping this law in all it's shapes and keeping all the
leadership circles. so we don't see any disrespect of it or
any disorder in the society, that's because our way in
applying is a realistic image of our capacity in the state,
and our respect of the constitution and our government will
not deal easily with everyone who tries to go over the law,"
said prime minister-designate Abbas.
Later in the day, the Palestinian Legislative Council
endorsed Abbas's cabinet list by a vote of 51-18 with three
abstentions at a special session in the West Bank city of
Ramallah. Loud applause greeted the result of the historic
vote.
Lawmakers kissed and congratulated Abbas, the first
Palestinian prime minister, and he pronounced himself "very
happy with this Palestinian democracy".
The new cabinet, to be sworn in on Wednesday (April 30)
morning, is the product of intense international pressure on
President Yasser Arafat to cede some of his powers and
implement democratic reforms.
The ministers include both critics of Arafat and loyalists
from within his mainstream Fatah faction. Abbas, a leading
moderate and critic of Palestinian attacks on Israelis,
signalled his intention on Tuesday to rein in militants.
The United States has said that after the cabinet is
confirmed, it will release a Middle East "road map" aimed at
ending two and a half years of Israeli-Palestinian violence
and paving the way for an independent Palestinian state by
2005.
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