Palestine: Security forces: Abbas moves to cut Hamas from control of PA Security Forces

We all are aware by now that the Hamas Party won a landslide in Palestine, defeating Fatah Party, which under Palestinian Authority (PA)'s President, Mahmoud Abbas, had inherited the legacy of Yasser Arafat. Apparently part of that heritage was widespread corruption among the officials and bureaucrats who thrived on the funds gushing into PA coffers from the European Union countries and from North America, as well as border fees charged by Israel and paid to the PA.

A chief reason cited for the Hamas win has been its work with the poor and providing the PA's social services. An earlier report mentioned how a Hamas terrorist was even hired by the UN in Palestine for its relief work.

The Hamas win, however, has resulted in seismic change, first of all in the attitude of the militants of Fatah, many of whom were nowadays employed in PA security forces, some of whom hoped for peace with Israel, and looked forward to an effective Fatah-majority in the Palestniain Legislative Council (PLC). Massive demonstrations by Fatah's forces and supporters erupted from the Hamas win, directed mostly by the younger leaders of Fatah against the Fatah election loss and against the Fatah officials who had been in power, on whom the loss was blamed.

Then came the press reports that Hamas planned to establish an army for Palestine, under its own command. The announcement brawt outrage from all sides critical of Hamas.

But even aside from such plans for the future, the prospect of having a Hamas majority in the PLC, has meant that Hamas must form a cabinet and a government (the Fatah cabinet already had promptly resigned, refusing, in accord with demands of Fatah militants in the streets, to serve in a coalition with Hamas).

So, the problem of its unexpected win has finally dawned on the Hamasians themselves: the party must actually now run a country.

Hamas will present a list of the cabinet members that will compose its government, to the President of the PA. The President then is obliged to certify the Hamas government and the transition from the outgoing Cabinent to the incoming.

For his part, Pres Abbas suddenly has announced that from now on all security forces will report to him only. This is in accord with the original arrangements made with the Palestine Liberation Organization (in which Fatah was always the leading element) that came out of the Oslo Accords establishing the PA. Since that time, only intelligence and the President's personal corps of bodyguards had been retained by Abbas, while the other three PLO-PA security entities had been turned over to the Fatah cabinet's Interior Minister. Now, Abbas by decree has reverted to the original arrangement. No PA security forces will be under the power of the new Hamas Interior Minister, whoever he turns out to be, if President Abbas has his way. - Politicarp