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Palestine to announce consensus gov't on Friday: official

Xinhua, July 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

The reshuffle of the Palestinian consensus government is expected to be announced on Friday, a senior Palestinian official said on Thursday.

The new ministers who will join the cabinet will be sworn in before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Friday, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said that the Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah will keep the portfolio of interior, while the reshuffle will include five new portfolios.

"New ministers of municipal affairs, economy, education, agriculture and transportations will join the cabinet headed by Hamdallah," said the official.

Last month, Abbas told a meeting of his Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee that he designated Hamdallah to make a slight reshuffle to the consensus government, which was formed in June in 2014 following an agreement between Islamic Hamas movement and President Abbas.

Officials said that the reshuffle that Abbas intends to do "is technical and not political," and it was done upon Hamdallah's request. However, Hamas movement opposed the reshuffle.

Hamas said in an emailed press statement that any unilateral reshuffle of the current consensus government "is rejected and it will be considered as a coup to the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Abbas." Enditem