Palestinians vote for powerful premier

Yasser Arafat loosened for the first time yesterday the tight grip with which he has help power as Palestinian leader for the past 35 years. In an initial vote, the Palestinian parliament voted in favour of creating a new post of prime minister and gave the premier the authority to appoint ministers ­ a power Mr Arafat had guarded for himself.

Ministers will report to the prime minister, meaning he will have control of government spending. But in one small detail, parliament undermined the entire reform and left Mr Arafat holding the real power; it agreed that it would be for him alone to name the Prime Minister of his choice, without referring to parliament or the electorate.

And, importantly, it was revealed that the prime minister would not have the authority to negotiate with the Israelis ­ the very job for which the idea of the post was mooted.

Mahmoud Abbas, the man Mr Arafat has already named as his choice for prime minister, has said he will not accept the job unless he is given genuine, far-reaching powers. As parliament continued to debate ahead of a second vote yesterday evening, Mr Abbas remained silent. The Israeli government will not negotiate with Mr Arafat. The US will not speak to him. Both accuse him of not doing enough to stop suicide bombings.

Israel's refusal to speak to Mr Arafat made diplomats encourage him to accept the need for a prime minister, but, ironically, the new premier will not have the authority to negotiate because under the Oslo peace accords, the Palestinian Authority is not allowed foreign relations. The job of negotiations will remain the preserve of the PLO ­ where Mr Arafat remains in charge.

Mr Abbas is the number two in the PLO. He was the main Palestinian architect of the Oslo accords. Although he is unpopular with the Palestinian public, Mr Abbas is liked by the United States and Israel, chiefly because he has repeatedly spoken out against suicide bombings and other attacks by Palestinian militants.

Yesterday evening, parliament was debating a package of reforms that it appears would give the prime minister genuine power. He would have the power to appoint his own cabinet, and government ministers would report to him, not Mr Arafat. Parliament has considered taking away control of some security forces from Mr Arafat and handing it over to the Interior Minister. That would include responsibility for trying to prevent militants carrying out suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis ­ a key demand of the "road map" peace plan drawn up by the US, UN, the EU and Russia but shelved until after the probable war in Iraq.

The Gaza branch of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the most prominent militant group to recognise the Palestinian Authority, issued a leaflet yesterday saying it supported Mr Abbas as prime minister. But the more powerful Hamas and its smaller Islamic Jihad rejected the idea of the position. "This post has been dictated by the United States and Israel. Our people do not need a prime minister but they need to end the occupation," said Ismail Hanieh, a leader of the political wing of Hamas.

Abd al-Bari Atwan, a Palestinian commentator, said: "You cannot end the political corruption by appointing a prime minister and ministers. You can deal with the political corruption by having new parliamentarian and presidential elections."

But Palestinian elections scheduled for January were cancelled because the Israeli military was enforcing curfews and blockades across the occupied territories.