Arafat Urged to Disband Cabinet
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RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Legislative Council called on Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to disband his 18-member Cabinet within a month in the wake of allegations of widespread government corruption.
“We demand the dissolution of the Palestinian Cabinet, and we ask President Arafat to set up a new Cabinet,” the council said in a resolution adopted by a 51-1 vote.
The elected 88-member council called on Arafat to replace his predominantly political appointees with technocrats and experts.
The council has no legal power to enforce its resolution, but the decision puts Arafat under serious political pressure.
Arafat had no immediate response, but his aides had earlier said he planned to reshuffle his Cabinet anyway.
A parliamentary investigative committee on Tuesday found extensive abuses in all 18 government ministries and recommended that three ministers stand trial.
The committee was set up in response to a state comptroller’s report two months ago that found $326 million of the Palestinian Authority’s $800-million annual budget had been squandered through corruption or mismanagement.
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