Palestinian Authority to start formation of technocratic unity government

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is to immediately start discussions on the formation of a national unity government and will be convening the first meeting in the Gaza Strip, an independent Palestinian official revealed on Wednesday.

The head of a coalition of independent Palestinian politicians, Yasser Al-Wadiyeh, said that Abbas is to form a technocratic government, as stipulated in the reconciliation agreement, and then pass it by the Palestinian Legislative Council for approval.

According to Al-Wadiyeh, the government will have certain goals, including: reconstructing the Gaza Strip, merging Hamas and Fatah security services, reactivating the PLO and carrying out the parliamentarian, presidential and Palestinian National Council elections.

He said that Abbas is likely to announce January 2015 as the date for holding these elections and expected them to take place sometime between 15 and 25 January.

Short of a full reunion, he said that the reconciliation talks did succeed to partially reunite the civil and security services of Fatah and Hamas.

The independent official added that the PLO Central Council is to gather next Saturday to discuss all the files that have been agreed upon with Hamas.