Special report: Hamas-led cabinet takes office

    GAZA, April 30 (Xinhua) -- One month after a Hamas-led Palestinian government was installed, Hamas officials have been struggling to keep the cabinet running despite a mounting financial crisis. But how long the Hamas cabinet could go?

    On an occasion in Gaza to mark the past 30 days in power, Prime Minister Ismail Haneya expressed optimism on Sunday that his cabinet would succeed in its mission and would last until the end of its constitutional four-year term.

    He told reporters that his government collects strength and power from the Palestinian people, "although they are challenged by a severe crisis that threatens their income and their daily life."

    "We are always optimistic. This optimism stems from our belief,our will and our people's steadfastness in order to continue marching towards our goals until the liberation of the lands and gaining the legitimate rights," said Haneya.

    Hamas came to power after defeating the long-dominated Fatah movement in Jan. 25 legislative elections, which was considered a substantial change in the Palestinian political arena.

    However, Palestinian people was not as optimistic as Haneya was,when they were suffering from security deterioration and cash-strapped daily life.

    Many Palestinians believe that their life got worse after Hamas formed the new cabinet, despite of the facts that their daily life and the political and economic situations had always been difficult.

    In the eyes of the Palestinians, the Hamas cabinet headed by Haneya has done nothing in improving their life, ending security chaos and implementing promised change and reform since it was sworn in on March 29.

    "Haneya's statements are just pain killing injections. We have heard such statements before, and all what we want now is to feel something on the ground because we are fed up with these statements," said Khalil Abu Dayya, a Palestinian employee in the ministry of planning.

    He suggested that there are dozens of problems that the cabinet should resolve "instead of just wasting our time only in hearing their talking without doing anything."

    Apparently, the Hamas-led cabinet has been experiencing a very critical time since the donor countries, mainly the United States and European Union, cut off financial aids due to its rejection to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous agreements.About 150,000 Palestinian government employees were delayed in getting their salaries in March, after the government announced a financial crisis.

    The Palestinians were about to lose patience.

    "Since the cabinet was sworn-in, all what we heard in the past four weeks, either from Prime Minister Haneya or from other officials in his cabinet or from officials in Hamas movement, just promises, but nothing real on the ground," said Ashraf al-Ajrami, a Palestinian political analyst from Gaza.

    In order to reduce the pressure from the Palestinian people, the official statements of the Hamas government had focused on calling for steadfastness and convincing the people that the government is able to overcome the crisis.

    During a Friday prayer in mid-April, Haneya had called on the Palestinian people to be "ready to eat salt, olives, oil and thymes, but will never kneel or surrender to the pressure imposed on the government and on our people."

    The salt-olive solution to the current financial difficulty stirs up mixed feelings among the Palestinians as some embraced it readily while others remained sceptical or even disillusioned.Al-Ajrami said that the Palestinians are ready to be patient and eat anything, "but there are simple questions, such as the salaries of the employees, which are basically considered as a very important issue for the population and haven't yet been resolved."

    Some Palestinians believe that the current dual plights in politics and economy were due to insufficient preparation of Hamas in the Jan. 25 election.

    "They (Hamas leaders) thought about the victory they would gain in the election, but unfortunately they didn't go deep into the details of the miserable daily life of the Palestinian people," said Khaled Al-Ghoul, a Palestinian economist from Gaza. Some Palestinian analysts expect a gloomy future for the Hamas cabinet.

    "Hamas will not last for too long if its leaders keep focusing on just making statements to the media but thinking about resolving the people's problems on the ground," Al-Ghoul said. Enditem