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.

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NEW CABINET COVERAGE
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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.

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GOVERNMENT HAVING PROBLEMS
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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