GAZA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya on Friday termed as "hasty" decisions by the United States and the European Union to halt direct financial aid to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

    Speaking to reporters after a three-hour meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Haneya said such decisions were "hasty and unjust, "and the choice of the Palestinian people should be respected.

    "They are not punishing the (Palestinian) government, but they are punishing the Palestinian people for their democratic choice, "the prime minister said.

    Earlier in the day, the U.S. administration said it is suspending all direct aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian government but it will boost humanitarian aid to the Palestinians through the United Nations.

    "Because the new Hamas-led Palestinian government failed to accept the Quartet principles of nonviolence, recognition of Israel and respect of previous agreements between the parties, the US is suspending assistance to the Palestinian government, cabinet and ministries," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a briefing.

    To the great dismay of the United States, Hamas won victory in January's Palestinian parliamentary elections and formed a government. The United States has said that it will not deal with nor provide aid to Hamas if it does not change course.

    Meanwhile, the European Union announced the suspension of direct funding to the Hamas-led PNA.

    "Putting obstacles before the government (by the European Union and the United States) would never be useful for the entire region," Haneya said.

    "Failure is not in our dictionary, we will keep acting for the coming four years," he said.

    He also said there will be no change in the government's political position, "We still stick to the political platform of the government, but we said we would deal openly with anything offered to us."

    "But this should be within the framework of protecting our people's legitimate rights," he said.

    He said the government has other choices to overcome the current financial crisis that it is facing.

    "We would appeal to Palestinian investors and foreign countries, including Arab and Islamic countries, to guarantee financial aid," he said.

    As for relationship between the Hamas-led cabinet and Abbas, Haneya said that there will be coordination between the two sides.

    "We agreed to form a joint team, which will be headed by bureau chiefs of the prime minister and the president, to deal with disagreement between the two sides," he said. Enditem