The Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Dr. Mohammed Shtayyeh, resigned last week and dissolved his government, citing “challenges” that lie ahead as “an emerging reality” takes hold in the Gaza Strip.
Shtayyeh, the premier for the Ramallah-based PA, has been in his office since 2019 upon his appointment by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who, now 88 years old, has been in office since 2005 and held onto power ever since.
“The next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in the Gaza Strip,” Shtayyeh said at a Cabinet meeting on Monday, January 26.
“The decision to resign came in light of the unprecedented escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem and the war, genocide, and starvation in the Gaza Strip,” Shtayyeh said.
“The next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the emerging reality in the Gaza Strip, the national unity talks, and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus on a national basis, broad participation, unity of ranks, and the extension of the Palestinian Authority’s sovereignty over the entire land of Palestine,” Shtayyeh said.
Shtayyeh’s resignation and remarks prompted a slew of media attention, with analysts pointing to his step-down as a result of growing pressure from the U.S. on Abbas to reshuffle the PA in preparation for a “day-after” scenario in Gaza. In this scenario, the PA would take over local governance in the Gaza Strip from Hamas, the current ruling authority in the Strip.
Despite supposed plans that the Biden Administration has for the PA, which currently maintains nominal governance over Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israel has made it clear that it rejects any scenario in which Palestinians, including the PA, would see an increase in their control after Israel’s war on Gaza ends.
Still, the Biden administration praised the move, with State Department spokesman Matthew Miller telling reporters: “Ultimately, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority is a question for the Palestinians themselves to decide. But we do welcome steps for the PA to reform and revitalize itself.”
As the Biden administration welcomed Shtayyeh’s resignation as a step towards revitalization, Palestinians living under PA control in the West Bank were left scratching their heads. According to analysts, Shtayyeh’s resignation is a far cry from any sort of internal overhaul or serious efforts to combat corruption within the wildly unpopular PA.
If anything, it was a superficial change that most Palestinains saw right through.
‘Whenever there’s trouble, the Prime Minister is the fall guy’
“People were surprised, and didn’t really know how to react. But we do know that the [prime] ministers and the government don’t have any real say in things. That power lies in the presidency,” Fathi Nimer, Palestine policy fellow at the Palestinian think tank Al-Shabaka, told Mondoweiss.
Pointing to efforts over the past decade by president Mahmoud Abbas to consolidate power in the executive branch and in the hands of his close inner circle, Nimer called Shtayyeh’s resignation “more of a cosmetic shake up.”
“The way the PA is structured, it’s inherently flawed by design. It’s not a real state institution, it’s barely autonomous, and it’s made to handle daily life without any real power over borders, resources, or sovereignty,” Nimer said. “I don’t think realistically that this will change the ways of the PA right now.”
The post Palestinian PM’s resignation nothing more than ‘cosmetic shake up,’ analysts say appeared first on Al-Shabaka.
This content originally appeared on Al-Shabaka and was authored by Fathi Nimer.
Fathi Nimer | Radio Free (2024-03-05T09:55:11+00:00) Palestinian PM’s resignation nothing more than ‘cosmetic shake up,’ analysts say. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2024/03/05/palestinian-pms-resignation-nothing-more-than-cosmetic-shake-up-analysts-say/
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