PALESTINIAN government spokesman Ghazi Hamad has insisted that his government is not just a Hamas government but is the government of the entire Palestinian people.
He said in an interview yesterday: ‘First of all, we must express our reservations over the expression “Hamas government”. This government is the government of the Palestinian people. It was formed in a legitimate way through parliament and the people.’
He added, referring to disputes with the Palestinian president Abbas and his statement to the effect that he could remove the government: ‘The prime minister has already said clearly that we want to solve all of our problems with the presidential institutions through dialogue and understanding.
‘We do not deny the existence of differences and divergence of views but we do not want to solve them through the media.
‘Frankly speaking, President Abbas’s statements might tempt some states to step up their sanctions against the government because by these statements he gives the world an impression that there is a deep crisis and that the issue of dissolving the government is simple and imminent.
‘We say that the government is only a month old. It is facing difficult conditions on the political, security and economic levels. Therefore, we had expected the president’s statements to be supportive of the government.’
Hamad went on to speak about the issue of ‘assistance and aid’.
‘We have not said that the Palestinian economy should be based on assistance and aid. This was one of the previous mistakes of the Palestinian Authority and its wrong economic policies, because over the past many years, it has transformed the Palestinian society into a consumer society, tied to and dependent on aid and assistance.
‘If this aid stops, it means we are finished. Regrettably, over the past many years, the Palestinian economy reached a state of collapse, a state of trusteeship, thus becoming reliant on aid and assistance. We inherited a completely empty treasury. There were no salaries.
‘The previous government should have provided salaries for the month of March. However, from the first week, the prime minister sent a team of ministers abroad to begin working for immediate solutions for this crisis.
‘On the issue of salaries, we have succeeded in providing a sizable amount of money. Here I must explain that the money we obtained has been free of blackmail and conditions. This is a clear message to Western nations which want to impose political conditions on us in exchange for money.
‘The other issue is that we have economic concepts. Thorough economic plans have been presented by expert ministers.
‘The government has an idea about how to activate the crossings and open outlets for exports and imports with Arab and Islamic states. We have discussed this with many states and establishments and they all welcomed it.
‘We are working to revive the Palestinian economy on a sound and strong basis and stop total and full dependence on foreign assistance as has been the case over many years.
‘I am certain that had we been allowed to bring in the money that we had acquired, matters would have been resolved. The financial crisis would have been obviated and salaries would have been paid.’
Hamad added: ‘When we assumed authority, some expected us to collapse and surrender. We arrived through the ballot box by peoples’ mandate under the slogan of change and reform.
‘We have a clear concept and a well-wrought programme that won people’s trust. However, since the government was born, it has been faced with knives and whips in order to undermine and abort it and complicate economic, political, security issues.
‘Therefore, we were forced to explain that we had inherited decimated financial conditions. Not only that; indeed, and regrettably, successive governments, especially the previous government, placed obstacles in the path of our government.
‘In recent months it added 19,000 men to the security force. I must mention that the ceiling of the 2005 budget limited the number of employees to 130,000.
‘However, we found that their number had reached 165,000. This means that 35,000 employees were hired and this burdened the already overburdened budget.
‘This great number will be an additional load on the budget. There is also the issue of the extensive promotions that were carried out before the resignation of the previous government. It seems as though it had already been planning something against this government.
‘By the way, these promotions were absolutely illegal and they harmed both the Palestinian Authority and the people.
‘Imagine that some people who held no college degree, not even a school certificate, were promoted to the position of director-general. Yet, we said that we would deal with these problems and overcome them and would find appropriate solutions.
‘Therefore we need an opportunity and time but regrettably some people are being merciless and are accusing us of failure. This is absolutely illogical.
Hamad went on to speak about the formation of a new security force.
‘First of all, had the security services been performing their duty we would not have needed to form such a force. However, everybody knows that the security services have become paralysed, either by Israeli blows or through attacks by some families and armed groups.
‘Thus, they lost their esteem among the Palestinian people. Disputes spread and struggles and lawlessness became rife. Regrettably, some of these services helped exacerbate lawlessness.
‘Thus, the aim of the force that the interior minister decided to form is to strengthen security and bolster the role of the police. This is because the factions as well as the big families are controlling the streets.
‘We have informed everyone that this force would not replace the police and was not a coup against the law or security but would rather back and assist the police until the police are able to carry out their role. This force will no longer be needed when anarchy and lawlessness end and when law and order prevail in the Palestinian streets.
‘As for the stand of the president and the government on this issue, we have discussed it from the legal and constitutional aspects and found that the law and the constitution gives the interior minister the right to form an agency or a unit that maintains law and public order.
‘We have discussed this issue with the presidency’s representative and found that there was a legal justification for this step. I assert that we do not want to enter into a struggle with the president on this subject at all.
‘This problem can be solved through dialogue between us. I also would like to say one more thing. Why did no-one object in the past when the Palestinian Authority formed the people’s army, the members of which were placed on the payroll and later committed many violations? Why did we not hear anyone objecting to the formation of this people’s army?’
Hamad then spoke about the presidential decree vetoing the forming of the new force.
He said: ‘We will go back to the law and the constitution. A presidential decree might contravene the law. If presidential decisions conform to the law we will adhere to them but if they contravene the constitution, it would be our right to challenge and dispute them.’