The Palestinian Authority Government of February 2005 was a government of the
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, (PA) which existed from 24 February 2005 to March 2006. It was headed by
Ahmed Qurei
Ahmed Ali Mohammed Qurei (or Qureia; ar, أحمد علي محمد قريع, ), also known by his Arabic '' kunya'' Abu Alaa (, ) (born 26 March 1937) is a former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. First appointed to the positi ...
and composed of 24 ministers. The cabinet was dominated by
technocrat professional appointees, nearly half of them with doctoral degrees. A large part of the Government was Fatah affiliated. The Government was approved by the
Palestinian Legislative Council
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the unicameral legislature of the Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It currently comprises 132 members, ...
by a 54-12 vote, with four abstentions. It was succeeded by the
Hamas-led Government of March 2006.
Background
Pursuant to the
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; , the authority of the PA Government is limited to some civil rights of the Palestinians in the
West Bank Areas A and B and in the Gaza Strip, and to
internal security
Internal security is the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other self-governing territories, generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats. Responsibility for internal secu ...
in Area A and in Gaza.
In January 2005, Mahmoud Abbas was elected the new
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, following the death of
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
. Abbas asked the incumbent Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei to continue in his post and form a new cabinet.
In March 2005, twelve Palestinian factions agreed on the
Palestinian Cairo Declaration
The Palestinian Cairo Declaration was a declaration signed on 19 March 2005 by twelve Palestinian factions, including Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Pal ...
, which besides other things proposed that
Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni- Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qas ...
and
Islamic Jihad join the
Palestinian Liberation Organisation
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and sta ...
.
Formation
In February 2005, News Agency WAFA published a list of members of the new government to be presented in the
Palestinian Legislative Council
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the unicameral legislature of the Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It currently comprises 132 members, ...
for a vote of confidence. Fatah legislators had agreed to vote in favor of the government on 21 February. Due to repeated demands by
Fatah
Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and s ...
officials and PLC members to make the new cabinet more reform-minded, however, the vote of confidence was repeatedly delayed. It was finally passed on 24 February, after Qurei had revised the list of ministers to accommodate these demands.
The Government was approved in Parliament by a 54-12 vote, with four abstentions (at the time, the PLC had 88 seats).
''New Palestinian Cabinet Sworn In''
CBS/AP, 24 February 2005 It was headed again by Ahmed Qurei
Ahmed Ali Mohammed Qurei (or Qureia; ar, أحمد علي محمد قريع, ), also known by his Arabic '' kunya'' Abu Alaa (, ) (born 26 March 1937) is a former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. First appointed to the positi ...
, and composed of 24 ministers. It was a technocrats cabinet dominated by professional appointees, nearly half of them with doctoral degrees. A large part of the Government was Fatah affiliated.[''Current Palestinian Government Structure (Factsheet)'']
MIFTAH, 3 December 2005
Timeline
On 15 December 2005, Qurei briefly resigned his Prime Minister post to run for a seat in the Palestinian Parliament in the January 2006 elections, but returned to office nine days later after deciding not to run.
On 26 January 2006, Qurei announced his intention to resign following the Fatah party's defeat by Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni- Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qas ...
in the parliamentary elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
.[''Palestinian PM to quit after poll'']
BBC, 26 January 2006 At the request of PNA President, Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Nati ...
, Qurei remained in office in a caretaker capacity until a successor was named.
Members of the Government
February 2005 to March 2006 [
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palestinian Authority Government of 2005 02
Palestinian National Authority governments
Cabinets disestablished in 2006
Cabinets established in 2005
2005 establishments in the Palestinian territories
2006 disestablishments in the Palestinian territories