Palestinians Approve Limited Scope for Premier Post
The prime minister's precise powers were left vague enough that it will largely be up to the first holder of the job to define and develop them, maneuvering between Mr. Arafat and the reform-minded Palestinians and foreign governments that are trying to curb his authority.

Mr. Arafat, who under the law adopted today has the power to nominate and fire the prime minister, has chosen for the position Mahmoud Abbas, his No. 2 in the hierarchy of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The parliament did not formally endorse that choice today, and Mr. Abbas, a critic of the Palestinians' armed uprising, has said he wants to be sure the position has authority before he accepts it.

But the Palestinian legislators were acting with Mr. Abbas in mind, many of them in the hope that he will use the post aggressively to reform Palestinian governance.

We cannot make the change at once," said Suleiman al-Rumi, an opposition legislator from Rafah, in the Gaza Strip. "We take powers one by one. We build stone by stone." The legislative changes made today require Mr. Arafat's approval.

During a day of procedural bickering over precise statutory wording, Mr. Rumi was at one point teased by Gazan colleagues for not playing his usual troublemaking role. But, pronouncing himself satisfied as he collected his papers this evening, he said, "There is nothing to oppose here."

Israel denied 10 legislators permission to travel here from Gaza, and at least one, Marwan Barghouti, is in detention, accused by Israel of terrorism, a charge he denies. Nevertheless, this was the best-attended session in Ramallah of the 88-member Palestinian Legislative Council since the early days of the conflict more than two years ago, because Israel eased its usual restrictions to let most attend.

That, together with Israel's muted response to the appointment of Mr. Abbas, was a sign that Israel would like to see this process succeed — or at least that it would not like to be seen as the reason for its failure.…
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/11/international/middleeast/11MIDE.html?pagewanted=all&position=top