Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas named Salam Fayyad as his new prime minister on Friday, 24 hours after proclaiming the dissolution of the Hamas-led national unity government following the rout of Fatah in the five day battle for Gaza.
Fayyad, an independent and former finance minister, has the backing of the Western powers. But Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of unity cabinet formed under Saudi auspices in March, dismissed Abbas’ decision and said he would continue to govern.
According to the Palestinian basic law, the constitution, Abbas is allowed to rule by decree for 30 days but there is no prescription for what will follow this period.
Elections for a new parliament are not an option in the current context of crisis. Abbas’ dissolution of the unity government, declaration of martial law and appointment of Fayyad to head an emergency administration effectively created a political division between Hamas-ruled Gaza and the West Bank where Fatah is dominant, exacerbating the split between Palestinian factions and adding a new dimension to the geographic division between Gaza and the West Bank which are separated by Israeli territory.
Egypt has been trying to mediate a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the political crisis while Saudi Arabia has been trying to shore up the unity government.
But the government was unable to rule because of the refusal of Fatah to share power and opposition from the Western powers and Israel which imposed financial sanctions that undermined the Palestinian administration and impoverished Palestinians.
Abbas’ choice of Fayyad to head an emergency government may encourage the US and Europe to support with weapons and funds Fatah’s West Bank regime.
But this could exacerbate the rift between the two territories Palestinians claim for their state. If financial aid were to flow, conditions in the relatively better off West Bank could improve while Gaza, sealed off by Israel and shunned by Western donors will continue to sink into poverty and desperation.
This could give rise to factions far more radical than Hamas, which is moderately fundamentalist.
Palestinians fear that the West Bank will become Fatahland while Gaza will be Hamastan.
The Arabs argue that this will torpedo the Arab peace plan which calls for full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank as well as Gaza and the Syrian Golan in exchange for full Arab normalisation of ties with Israel.