DFLP: Unity govt restricted to Fatah, Hamas officials

Nayef Hawatmeh told the Jordanian Al-Ghad newspaper that all potential candidates for the upcoming unity government will either be officially affiliated to Fatah and Hamas, or be supporters of the political factions.
 
"There are currently disputes over the two (candidates) who will become vice presidents as well as some influential portfolios such as interior and finance," Hawatmeh said.
 
Fatah and Hamas officials have also clashed over security arrangements, with Hamas opposing moves for its fighters to hand over their weapons, the DFLP leader said.
 
"If a unity government is to be announced, it would be far from reflecting national consensus or national unity or being technocratic. This government will be based on sharing sovereignty between two parties keeping away other nationalistic factions," he added.
 
The leader of the Palestinian leftist faction said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using negotiations to buy time and is uninterested in the two-state solution.
 
According to Hawatmeh, the final group of pre-Oslo Palestinian prisoners will also not be released.
 
On Sunday, Hamas said that a "consensus government" would be named by the PLO and Hamas within days.
 
Hamas signed a reconciliation deal last month with the PLO in a surprise move which aims to overcome a years-long intra-Palestinian split.
 
Under their April 23 reconciliation deal, the two sides are to form an "independent government" of technocrats, headed by Abbas, paving the way for long-delayed elections.