Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was set to meet on Sunday with Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in order to persuade the newly appointed official not to resign from his post, Israel Radio reported.The report conflicts with an earlier report from the Palestinian Ma'an news agency that Hamdallah retracted his resignation on Friday evening, after a meeting with Abbas in Ramallah. After less than a month at the post, Hamdallah resigned from his position on Thursday. Abbas appointed Hamdallah on June 2.The prime minister resigned because of a power struggle that he had with his two deputies – Muhammad Mustafa and Ziad Abu Amr – who were appointed by Abbas, according to a Palestinian source close to Hamdallah. Another PA source said that Hamdallah quickly found himself in the same situation as his predecessor Salam Fayyad.“Hamdallah discovered that the Palestinian Authority president wants him to serve as a yes-man with no powers,” the source explained. “Abbas wanted a prime minister who would play no role and only carry out orders from the president’s office.”
Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report.
