Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Not the most auspices beginning

A rocky start to the first session of the Hamas led Palestinian Authority reports the Jerusalem Post:

The new Hamas controlled parliament on Monday voted in favor of cutting the powers of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, triggering a major confrontation with Abbas's Fatah party. Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a senior aide to Abbas, accused Hamas of trying to stage a coup against the PA chairman. "Hamas is trying to change the regime in Palestine," he said. "We urge Hamas to reconsider its tactics which jeopardize national unity."

The crisis, the worst between the two Hamas and Fatah since the Islamic movement scored a landslide victory in last January's parliamentary election, erupted when the Palestinian Legislative Council [PLC], which held a session here and in Gaza City through videophone, decided to cancel a number of legislations taken by the previous council after the parliamentary election.

Angry Fatah legislators in Gaza City stormed out of the chamber in protest upon learning that the council was about to cancel the legislations. Later, dozens of Fatah gunmen marched toward the PLC building in Gaza City, firing into the air and calling on their party not to join a Hamas-led cabinet.

Azzam al-Ahmed, head of the Fatah bloc in parliament, said the Fatah legislators would not attend future meetings until Hamas respects the rule of law. "Hamas does not want to resolve this crisis," he said. "We have been trying to negotiate with them, but they don't want to listen. They only want to impose their will on everyone. This is undemocratic."

It will be an amazing feat if this legislative council passes any legislation that does not led to the spilling of blood.

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