Fatah wants to jettison Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Reuters reports. In a letter to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, senior officials of the dominant Fatah party demanded he fire Fayyad. The letter, backed by Fatah's central revolutionary council, read,"We suggest you reconsider re-appointing Dr. Fayyad and ask that a strong Fatah figure do the job."
The letter underlies deep political tensions gripping the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, with many strident Fatah members clearly frustrated by Fayyad, who has proposed forming a unity government with Hamas, who wrested control of Gaza from the PA in a bloody coup in 2007. Hamas, Fatah's bitter rival, rejected Fayyad's proposal and caricatured him as a "puppet of the west."
Fayyad wields substantial power despite the absence of a meaningful political base of his own. As Prime Minister Fayyad controls finances and security. A former economist with the World Bank, Fayyad has been credited by Western governments with transforming the institutional landscape in the West Bank, successfully building the core structures needed for a planned independent Palestinian state.
Growing dissatisfaction with both Hamas and Fatah simmers under the surface of the Palestinian electorate, however. Looking to show his commitment for change in the wake of popular protests across the Arab world - and to avert unrest - Abbas has asked Fayyad to appoint a new cabinet and prepare for elections.
Attempts to draw up a new list of ministers for the PA has bogged down amidst dissent from Fatah's rank and file, complicating the efforts. As has Abbas' steadfast refusal to hold elections on the national level, instead opting to only hold municipal elections. Fatah has dominated 'Palestinian' politics for generations and many activists are angered by Abbas's apparent reliance on Fayyad, saying it risks eroding their credibility.
According to an official close to Abbas, the President "did not take it [the letter demanding Fayyad's dismissal] seriously."