PALESTINIAN POLL: INTERVIEW - HAMAS MAY OPT FOR TECHNOCRAT GOVERNMENT

1-27-2006

27 Jan. (AKI) - If Hamas fails to persuade Fatah to join it in a coalition government for the Palestinian Authority, the movement may opt for a cabinet made up of "technical specialists," one of the radical Islamist movement's leaders said on Friday. Hamas, determined to "consolidate its electoral success" in Wednesday's vote, has started consulting other parties with the aim of forming a new government, Ghazi Hamad told Adnkronos International (AKI).

"We are keeping our options open, without excluding the possibility of forming a government made up of 'technocrats'," he said, adding however that Hamas' priority was to ensure that the new government would be as "widely representative as possible".

This despite "Fatah not showing encouraging signs, during the early stages of the consultations," Hamad told AKI.

Fatah sources have told AKI that they believe Hamas will fail to clinch a deal with other parties, that coupled with pressure from Israel, the United States and the European Union they would be forced to seek early elections in an effort to resolve the impasse.

But Ghazi dismisses any suggestion that Hamas is incapable of managing the power it has suddenly won through the ballot box.

"There are those who think Hamas is in trouble, but they are wrong. Yes, it is true we are trying to form a government which will represent all the Palestinian people and not just our movement, but we have many ways of doing so, and the cabinet ministers don't have to be necessarily Legislative Council (parliament) members - they could come from the outside, there is nothing that says this is not possible."

According to some sources the Damascus-based chief of Hamas' political office, Khaled Mashal, is planning to travel to the Gaza Strip in an attempt to add his voice in the consultations. Plans are afoot to ensure that Mashal - who is sought on terrorism charges by Israel and has not entered PA-governed territories since the entity's establishment - can enter Gaza from Egypt through the internationally monitored Rafah border crossing.

However Hamas and Fatah representatives have refused to deny or confirm the reports.