This requires that we direct our main efforts to internal housekeeping.' The sequence of reform that he outlined was instructive: first, implement the 'rule of law' which requires structural reform of the judicial system second, develop a system of real security, defined primarily as a defense of individual Palestinians against the capricious, arbitrary behavior of the Palestinians' own security forces third, secure freedom of political expression, recognizing that 'pluralism does not extend to security ' fourth, improve economic performance and raise social welfare levels and fifth, ensure fiscal transparency, combat corruption, and professionalize the civil service.Īs the candidate of Palestinian reformers, Abbas was playing to his core constituency, one that may blame Arafat's leadership for the regression of Palestinian political, social, and economic well-being even more than it holds him responsible for the failure of the Palestinian uprising to break Israel or secure visible political dividends. He directly linked the struggle against Israel with the need to put the Palestinian house in order: 'We all commit to ending the occupation in all its shapes and forms. An important aspect of his address, overlooked by most observers, was his frequent reference to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), not the PA, as the institution to which he owed first allegiance.Ībbas, or Abu Mazen, began his address by focusing on the urgency of domestic reform. Abbas's ambiguity on whether attacks against Israeli targets inside the West Bank and Gaza constitute terrorism left a serious question mark. will be relentlessly addressed.' He hinted at, but was not conclusive on, plans to have paramilitary groups like Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades forcibly disarmed rather than just invited to reach 'an internal understanding' on their opposition to a peace strategy.

The speech's most positive aspects were Abbas's affirmation of negotiations as the route to achieve Palestinian aspirations, his assertion of the primacy of the rule of law, and his promise that 'the unauthorized possession of firearms. Addressing the Palestinian Legislative Council Tuesday, new Palestinian Authority (PA) prime minister Mahmoud Abbas outlined a bold program of domestic reform and commitment to diplomacy that balanced loyalty to Yasir Arafat with an evident desire for fundamental political change.

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