The End of Fayyadism -Jonathan Schanzer
PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad [pictured], perhaps the only Palestinian leader who earnestly sought to usher in an era of good governance, is now under siege from political rivals. President Mahmoud Abbas has orchestrated a series of trials against the prime minister's top officials to discredit Fayyad. These cases are not designed to rid Palestine of corruption. Rather, by ousting ministers and hobbling Fayyad, Abbas creates an opportunity to replace them with figures more to his liking.
According to officials who work with them, the two figureheads of the Palestinians are barely on speaking terms. Fayyad has become a glorified accountant, leveraging his strong relationship with international donors to collect checks that ensure his government can continue to pay salaries - while Abbas pursues a provocative foreign policy that endangers those sources of funding. Fayyad opposed angling for international recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN - a finger in Washington's eye.
Washington still pays lip service to the potential of Fayyad's reform agenda, but the White House knows the prime minister's days are numbered. The end of Fayyadism means the end of an era that offered hope for political reform for the Palestinians.
(Foreign Policy) *
4 comments:
A very sad development but one not very surprising since as the years have gone on Abbas has seemed less and less a statesman looking for peace and more an enabler looking to appease Hamas and survive until someone else has to deal with all of this.
I have not been a big fan of Fayyad, but he's the best they've got. Peace is sunk.
He is "the best they've got"?!?
The best they've got are rotting in Israeli prisons--see Barghouti.
One question only: if the views in this blog are to the right of Jerusalem Post, for whom are you exercising yourself? Those who drank the koolaid don't need to sip the regurgitate stuff and those who disagree with you cannot possibly sustain a dialog with you for reasons you will make obvious as soon as I post this.
So? Why the effort?
Dear Anonymous,
You really think Barghouti is the best the Palestinians have? Oh my. A mass murderer is the best? Maybe that's the trouble with Palestinian culture when it comes to relating to Israel.
I pay no attention to the editorial policies of the various news services i post from...I find reasonable material in everything from Haaretz to the J Post. That you identify me "to the right of the J Post" is interesting but irrelevant.
This blog is geared to the intellectual trying to dig their way out of the morass of garbage that passes for analysis on the MidEast.
Thank you for your comments...and reading a blog you disagree with.
Bruce :}
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