Hamas accuses outgoing Palestinian law-makers of blatantly tampering with the will of the public as new powers are afforded to President Abbas, reports Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank Hamas, which won a landslide victory in the 25 January legislative elections in the occupied Palestinian territories, has vowed to form a "strong and durable" government within two weeks. The new government will succeed the Palestinian Authority (PA) caretaker government of Ahmed Qurei. Hamas said efforts to form the government would be accelerated after the convening of the new Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) on 18 February. Hamas will be in control of 74 seats plus three or four other seats won by pro- Islamic independents. Fatah, the former PA ruling party, will have 45 seats while the remaining eight seats will be held by two independents and three liberal and leftist parties. Irrespective of formalities, Hamas has actually been discreetly engaged in intensive consultations in an effort to secure the formation of a government before the end of February. Hamas sources told Al-Ahram Weekly that the next government would include members of Hamas, pro-Hamas independents, technocrats and several figures from Fatah, or close to Fatah. Hamas leaders explained that a "national coalition government" would be the most expedient outcome, given regional and international political circumstances. "The next government will not be a religious government and the ministers will not be clergymen," said one Hamas law-maker in the Hebron region. Moreover, it is very likely that the Hamas-led or Hamas- dominated government will concentrate on domestic Palestinian issues, such as fighting corruption and effecting good, transparent governance. Contacts with Israel, especially concerning the virtually moribund "peace process", are likely to be left for PA President Mahmoud Abbas since Hamas had so far adamantly refused to recognise Israel. However, in an interview with the Israeli television, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak expressed his optimism concerning the flexibility of the movement. "The recent meetings in Cairo between Hamas's leaders (of the outside and the inside) have reflected an understanding of the current situation." Mubarak added that, "the final resolution (to the conflict with Israel) could come at the hands of Hamas. They are elected by the Palestinians, and this can help the peace process." So far, Hamas's caution regarding the peace process has stemmed from a deep conviction that peace negotiations with Israel are futile and will reach a dead end sooner or later regardless of whether Hamas or Fatah is the negotiating partner. Hamas believes Israel is not ready to reach peace with the Palestinians at this time and is only interested in public relations and public diplomacy in order to gain leeway to complete its unilateral plans to annex more than 60 per cent of the West Bank, leaving millions of Palestinians in hapless and miserable enclaves. "We all know that Israel is just playing games with Abbas and Fatah. They wouldn't give the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation] a real state even if both sides negotiated for a hundred years. Israel wants to arrogate and usurp as much Palestinian land in the West Bank as possible, all under this big lie called the peace process," said Samir Kadi, a medical doctor and newly-elected Islamic law-maker from the village of Surif near Hebron. "Israel is just deceiving the world. They say 'we won't negotiate with Hamas because Hamas doesn't recognise Israel.' Well, Fatah fully and completely recognised Israel in 1993, and what was the result? More settlements, more land theft, narrower horizons for the Palestinian people and more occupation and more repression and more lies and more deception." Hamas's disenchantment with the "peace process" actually reflects deep Palestinian disillusionment and frustration in this regard. Most Palestinians are deeply convinced that Israel and the United States are interested only in deceiving and bullying the PA into accepting a truncated, disconnected and deformed "state" that lacks viability and substance while the Israeli occupation and control over the Palestinian people would remain intact. Indeed, the unmitigated construction of the separation wall, which has reduced Palestinian population centres to de facto detention camps, has reinforced such feelings among ordinary Palestinians and may have contributed to Hamas's resounding electoral victory. Hence, Hamas hopes the forthcoming Palestinian government will be able to prevent Abbas from succumbing to combined Israeli-American pressure to compromise on cardinal issues, including the inviolability of 1967 borders, East Jerusalem, the refugees and self-determination. In fact, Abbas and Fatah readily say they are committed to upholding these national interests that enjoy near-total consensus among Palestinians. However, there are certain perceptions that Fatah would compromise and might accept less than a full and total Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This week, the outgoing PLC sought to strengthen Abbas vis-à-vis the next Hamas-controlled parliament. The council passed a resolution enabling Abbas to create a "constitutional court" made up of nine judges, which would empower Abbas to dissolve parliament if he wished and call for new elections. Ironically, it was the same legislative council that fought tooth and nail efforts by former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to extricate certain powers from it. In addition, the council took a number of other decisions that would give outgoing law-makers hefty retirement salaries amounting to several thousands of dollars per month. Hamas, a number of whose new law-makers attended the session as guests, strongly denounced this "tampering with the people's will." "These are irresponsible decisions taken by an illegal body that lost its legitimacy many years ago," said Mahmoud Totah, a Hamas leader representing East Jerusalem. He pointed out that the decisions were politically motivated and completely incompatible with the rule of law. Stronger words came from Nayef Rajoub, the popular Hamas leader in the southern West Bank, who likened the outgoing council's attempt "to corrode the will of the Palestinian people" to "Israel's efforts to undercut the upcoming Palestinian government." "These failed councillors are trying to rape the will of the people. I dare say that those who have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from the coffers of the Palestinian people are more benign than those who are now trying to rape its will." Rajoub described the outgoing law-makers as "thieves of democracy". "After stealing the people's money, they are now stealing the people's will." Meanwhile, Hamas has started collecting weapons from its fighters in northern Gaza. The move is seen as a precursor to a plan by the upcoming Hamas government to establish the rule of law and put an end to lawlessness and chaos, especially in the Gaza Strip. Hamas also hopes the move will enhance its image in the international arena, especially after the recent invitation extended by Russia to a number of Hamas leaders to visit Moscow. Hamas hopes the visit, along with reportedly secured backing and promises of support by a number of regional
