MGGZ01: HAMAS TEMPORARILY RESHUFFLES CABINET

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 002812 NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/LOGERFO E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2016 TAGS: PGOV KPAL KWBG IS SUBJECT: MGGZ01: HAMAS TEMPORARILY RESHUFFLES CABINET REF: JERUSALEM 2766 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: At a news conference on July 2, the PA Council of Ministers Secretary General announced that Prime Minister Ismail Hanniyah has entrusted the portfolios of arrested Hamas ministers to other ministers. PA Minister of Information Yusuf Rizqah stressed that there is "no political vacuum in the Palestinian Authority," and that the government continues its daily work as normal. Sources in the President's office, however, told ConGen that the work of the PA has been hindered by the arrests, the Israeli attacks on Gaza, and the lack of revenue. END SUMMARY. -------------- NEW CABINET COVERAGE -------------- ¶2. (C) The PA Council of Ministers Secretary General, Muhammad Awad, announced at a July 2 press conference the following changes in cabinet portfolios, which an official in the President's office confirmed to ConGen political specialist: the portfolios of local government and labor have been entrusted to Minister of Transport and Transportation Ziyad al-Zaza; the portfolios of prisoner affairs and Jerusalem affairs have been entrusted to Minister of Refugee Affairs Atif Adwan; the social affairs portfolio has been entrusted to Health Minister Basim Na'im; the portfolios of finance, Awqaf, and religious affairs have been entrusted to Information Minister Yusuf Rizqah; and the planning portfolio has been entrusted to the National Economy Minister Ala-al-Din al-A'raj. ¶3. (C) PA Minister of Information Yusuf Rizqah told the press that the government continues to work as normal. However, officials in the President's office told FSN political specialist that, while the portfolios were technically being assumed by other ministers, senior civil servants close to Hamas were conducting the day-to-day work at the ministries. Deputy Minister for Prisoner Affairs Ziyad Abu-Ayin made this point in remarks to the press on July 2. -------------- GOVERNMENT HAVING PROBLEMS -------------- ¶4. (C) The arrests of eight cabinet ministers and the Israeli attacks on government buildings in Gaza have hurt the PA cabinet's ability o govern, according to Abu-Ayin. Sources in the resident's office confirmed this to FSN politica specialist, but noted that these recent problems have only compounded the already serious financia burdens (leading to employee absenteeism) that hve "almost paralyzed" all ministries except the inistries of health and education. These source stressed, however, that while the government isless able to function, the public is more undersanding and supportive of it because they view it as "besieged." WALLES