Palestinian Authority Government of June 2002
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The Palestinian Authority Government of June 2002 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) from June to September 2002, headed by Yasser Arafat, the
President of the Palestinian National Authority The president of the Palestinian National Authority ( ar, رئيس السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية) is the highest-ranking political position (equivalent to head of state) in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The presiden ...
. A number of Ministers resigned on 11 September 2002, facing a vote of no-confidence 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, e ...
(PNC). The next Government formed in October 2002 was largely the same as the June Government, except for six Ministers who had resigned.


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-governance, self-governing territories, generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats. Responsibility fo ...
in Area A and in Gaza. While Israel since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 continued establishing and expanding settlements throughout the Palestinian territories (including in Gaza until 2005) and refused to withdraw as stipulated in the Oslo Accords,''Palestinian Authority won't free militant''
CNN, 3 June 2002.
Last section: "In East Jerusalem, guards were protecting workmen who began clearing land Monday for 100 apartments on a site near the southern Arab neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber. The Israeli government had pledged not to begin any new settlements in the West Bank or Gaza but has said Jerusalem is an exception."
President Arafat was reluctant to transfer power, and opposition was growing from within and outside his own party,
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 ...
. After the collapse of the Israeli–Palestinian peace negotiations and the outbreak of the
Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...
, in an Israeli military operation in April 2002, Israel re-occupied all West Bank areas set down for where the PA was supposed to exercise limited self-government (ie., Area A and B). The Palestinian Authority infrastructure was largely destroyed''Damage to Palestinian Libraries and Archives during the Spring of 2002''
. University of Pittsburgh, 16 January 2003

Uri Avnery, RamallahOnline, 27 April 2002. Some pictures on

Jim Stone, 3 May 2002

Press Release. UN, 1 August 2002 (doc.nr. SG2077)
and in June 2002, after further extensive destruction, President Arafat was held hostage in his Mukataa in Ramallah for the second time within a few months. In June 2002, the Israeli Government definitively approved construction of the
West Bank barrier The Israeli West Bank barrier, comprising the West Bank Wall and the West Bank fence, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. It is a contentious element of the Israeli–Palestinian c ...
, largely built within the Palestinian territories and endangering the contiguity of the future Palestinian state.


Timeline


Prelude to the Government

On 16 May 2002, 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, e ...
(PLC) presented Arafat with a list of recommended changes to radically overhaul the way the Palestinian Authority operated. It demanded presidential and legislative elections within a year, and recommended that Arafat's current government resign and that Arafat appoint a smaller government within 45 days. It also called on him to sign the Basic Law. In his response, President Arafat said that no elections would be held until Israel fully withdrew from the Palestinian territories where the Oslo Accords called for full or partial control by the Palestinians (Areas A and B). ''Arafat: No elections until Israel pulls out''
Rula Amin, CNN, 17 May 2002
Since the establishment in 1996 of the first PA government approved by an elected PLC, there had not been rules about the term of the Government. Ministers were just appointed and dismissed by President Arafat, whose own term was the interim period of the Oslo Accords. In 1997, the PLC approved the Basic Law, which was not signed by Arafat until 29 May 2002. This 2002 Basic Law stipulated that it only applied to the interim period set by the Oslo Accords. According to the Law, the Legislative Council (which should approve the Government) as well as the
President of the Palestinian Authority The president of the Palestinian National Authority ( ar, رئيس السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية) is the highest-ranking political position (equivalent to head of state) in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The presiden ...
(who should appoint the Ministers) were envisioned to function until the end of the interim period.''2002 Basic Law''
29 May 2002. Article 34: The term of this Council shall be the interim period. Article 53: The term of the Presidency shall be the Transitional Phase, after which the President shall be elected in accordance with law. Article 62: The President of the National Authority shall appoint Ministers, remove them, and accept their resignations and presides over the meeting of the Council of Ministers. Article 65: The Cabinet shall consist of a number of Ministers not to exceed Nineteen
The interim period had in fact ended on 5 July 1999.


Formation of the Cabinet

Early in June 2002, Arafat wanted to form a new, smaller Cabinet. He asked the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary soci ...
, the
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP; ar, الجبهة الديموقراطية لتحرير فلسطين, ''al-Jabha al-Dīmūqrāṭiyya li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn'') is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist organi ...
and
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-Qassam Bri ...
to join the Government, but all refused.''Arafat asks Tenet to pressure Israel, aide says''
CNN, 4 June 2002. See last part of article
While Arafat was building a new Cabinet, the Israeli army raided Ramallah and started a new siege on Arafat's headquarters. On 11 June, the siege was strengthened, and the first meeting of the new Cabinet was cancelled.
Anton La Guardia and Alan Philps, The Telegraph, 11 June 2002


End of the Cabinet

Members of
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 ...
demanded the dismissal of some Cabinet ministers seen as corrupt or incompetent. On 11 September 2002, Arafat would present a new Cabinet to Parliament for approval, but a group of Fatah lawmakers threatened to vote against the Cabinet, despite pressure by their leader. The Fatah representatives were willing to limit their vote to five new ministers only. As a compromise, Arafat issued a presidential decree for presidential and parliamentary elections in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem to be held on 20 January 2003. As a consequence, the current Cabinet would only be a temporary one. Members of the Cabinet submitted their resignations and the vote on the new Cabinet that Arafat initially wanted to present was canceled. According to Palestinian Law, the PLC had to be dissolved 90 days before an election.''Arafat accepts resignation of ministers, sets date for presidential and parliamentary elections''
Al Bawaba, 11 September 2002
A reshuffled temporary cabinet was approved, with the intention to remain until new elections were held. Six ministers left the Government. The Interior, the Justice and the Health Ministers were replaced with new members. The total number of Ministries was decreased by one. The Telecommunication Ministry was merged with the Transportation Ministry of Mitri Abu Eita. The Ministries of Civil Affairs and of Youth and Sports were replaced with the two new Ministries ''Orient House Director'' and ''Prisoners Affairs''.
Jerusalem Media and Community Centre. The link is given o

The new elections, however, did not take place. The 2002 Cabinet functioned until the 2003 Basic Law came into force in March 2003 and the political system was changed. Also, the PLC was not dissolved.


Members of the Government

June to September 2002 ''PNA Government June - October 2002''
Jerusalem Media and Community Centre


See also

*
Palestinian government The Palestinian government is the government of the Palestinian Authority or State of Palestine. The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (EC) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization and acts ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palestinian Authority Government of 2002 06 Palestinian National Authority governments 2002 establishments in the Palestinian territories 2002 disestablishments in the Palestinian territories Cabinets established in 2002 Cabinets disestablished in 2002