Dr. Salam Fayyad (Arabic: سلام فياض; b. 1952) is a
Palestinian politician, who, on June 15, 2007, was appointed the Prime Minister of
the Palestinian National Authority. His appointment, justified by President Mahmoud
Abbas on the basis of "national emergency", has not been confirmed by the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the parliament of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).[1][2] Until that date, Fayyad had
been the Finance Minister of the PNA in the Fatah interim
government from 2002.
Fayyad is an internationally respected economist and politician.[3][4] He has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a student of William A. Barnett and where he did early research on the American Divisia Monetary Aggregates, which he continued on the staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Fayyad began his career teaching economics at
Yarmuk University in Jordan, before joining the World Bank from 1987 - 1995. He subsequently became the International Monetary Fund representative to the Palestinian National Authority until 2001,
before becoming its Finance Minister.
Upon resigning as Finance Minister, Fayyad ran as founder and leader of the new Third Way political party in the Palestinian legislative election of 2006 alongside Hanan Ashrawi and Yasser Abd Rabbo[5]. Fayyad and Ashrawi won seats in the PLC.
He is seen as pro-Western and was predicted to be offered the post of Prime Minister of
the PNA by both Fatah, and as of January 26, 2006, also by the
winner of the elections: the List of Change and Reform (Hamas). In response to the offer, Fayyad
presented several conditions to becoming Prime Minister, including that Hamas would recognize Israel, which Hamas declined.
On March 18, 2007, Fayyad was appointed Finance Minister of
the Fatah-Hamas unity government. [1] On June 15, 2007, following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip and its
new government, Fayyad was appointed Prime Minister of a new "independent"
government (without any Fatah or Hamas members) which is effectively supported by the Fatah and Israel.
This appointment has been challenged as illegal, because while the Palestinian Basic Law
permits the President of the PNA to dismiss a sitting prime minister, the appointment of a replacement requires the approval of
the PLC. The law provides that after removal of the Prime Minister (in this case, Ismail
Haniyeh), the outgoing prime minister heads a caretaker government. The current PLC, in which Hamas holds a majority of
seats, has not approved the appointments of Fayyad or the balance of his new government. Fayyad's appointment was never placed
before, or approved by the PLC.[6]. Haniyeh has operate as
Prime Minister in Gaza, and is recognized by a large number of Palestinians as the legitimate caretaker Prime Minister of the
PNA. Anis al-Qasem, the Palestinian constitutional lawyer who drafted the Basic Law, is among
those who publicly declared the appointment of Fayyad to be illegal.[7].
References
- ^ "Abbas suspends articles from Basic Law", Kuwait News Agency, 2007-06-17.
- ^ "Abbas Swears in Emergency Government", New York Times, 2007-06-17.
- ^ EU backs new Palestinian government Sacramento Bee, June 18, 2007
- ^ Profile: Salam Fayyad. BBC News, 17 June 2007
- ^ Palestinian third way rises
- ^ Whose Coup Exactly?, The Electronic Intifada,
June, 18, 2007
- ^ Opinion of lawyer who drafted Palestinian law, Reuters, July 8, 2007. Accessed August 7,
2007
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