Arafat's rats are deserting a sinking ship

What is going to be next?

Imagine for a minute that Palestine is a large traveling on a stormy sea. This ship started sailing long ago, but water and supplies are about to run out (funding). As it happens on such occasions, there is often a rebellion.

The sailors(deputies of the Palestinian Parliament) accused senior officers of the ship (the ministers in Arafat’s government) of plundering the supplies (embezzlement). The captain (Yaser Arafat) ordered barrels of wine be rolled on deck in order to appease the sailors(he issued a decree that confirmed the precise dates of presidential and parliamentary elections in the Palestinian Autonomy).

It worked for a start, and the crew(the deputies)settled down, but the cooperation didn't last. Today, the members of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Palestinian Autonomy tendered their resignations to Yasser Arafat. Speaker of the Palestinian Parliament Ahmed Qureia advised Arafat to accept the resignations.

It's unknown why the ministers decided to quit. Journalists suppose they wanted to avoid a vote of no-confidence from the Palestinian parliament. It is worth noting that Arafat named the members of his cabinet in July 2002. However, many deputies claimed they would reject the approval of the new government. As they said, the new government would have corrupted an incompetent people.

Arafat met with Fatah representatives on Wednesday morning, prior to the voting in parliament. He was trying to convince them to support his government, but apparently, he experienced bad luck.

All officers have left the ship, including Arafat’s top aide Saeb Erekat. This is really a sad thing to happen, for Erekat was the leader of the Palestinian delegation at negotiations with Israel. No one knows what Captain Arafat is going to do now or where his Palestinian ship is going to sail.

Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov