Chairman Arafat is not honoring his promise to implement reforms in the Palestinian Authority. I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked.
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) decided Wednesday to suspend all sessions from September 07 to October 07 in a step interpreted as a form of pressure to accelerate the approval of a reform package, which President Yaser Arafat publicly adopted on August 18.
Two weeks ago, the PLC rejected by one vote a similar suspension call after Arafat told them he planned to approve the laws and support the reforms the Council had called for.
But he hasn't, of course. They're still waiting for his signature, which he now claims isn't necessary. His speech, he says, was sufficient. So the PLC has officially (though not practically) suspended itself in protest.
The suspension was also a protest against the cabinet of Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei, he added.
“It is also a protest against the Palestinian cabinet that up to date has not implemented the decisions and the bills that were approved by the Legislative Council,†said Fattouh.
He did not rule out that the PLC might resort to other steps after October 7 to press on with its demands.
“The PLC will discuss the situation after the expiry of the suspension period and … will take the appropriate action,†he added.
"Appropriate action." Now that sounds ominous.
