RAMALLAH, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party vice chairperson Mahmoud Aloul said Sunday that the process of the empowerment of the Palestinian unity government in Gaza Strip is so far "formalistic and not substantive."
Aloul said in statements to the official Palestinian radio station Voice of Palestine that the process in the first phase towards achieving the intra- Palestinian reconciliation was "faulty" and the government was not fully empowered to take over all its jurisdiction in Gaza Strip.
Islamic Hamas movement and Fatah party are expected to meet again in Cairo in the beginning of next December to assess the government empowerment issue, as part of the Egyptian brokered deal reached between both parties last October to end a decade long division between them.
On Saturday, Abbas chaired Fatah's central committee meeting that stressed in its final statement "the importance of empowering the unity government and the fulfillment of this as a compulsory first step" to achieve Palestinian reconciliation.
Last week, 13 Palestinian factions and political powers convened in Cairo and agreed to hold elections before the end of 2018 and the continuation of the steps to empower and consolidate the government tin Gaza, in accordance with the Hamas-Fatah deal.
Aloul said that Fatah "will try again and exert more efforts to empower the government in Gaza Strip, and move on the next steps, with regards to other issues."
