PA Prime Minister pleads: 'Stop publishing paid ads congratulating me'

The appeal came after Palestinian newspapers and websites, including the daily east Jerusalem-based Al-Quds, published advertisements congratulating Shtayyeh.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister designate Mohammed Shtayyeh on Monday appealed to Palestinians to stop publishing paid advertisements in local newspapers and other online platforms congratulating him on his appointment.
The appeal came after Palestinian newspapers and websites, including the daily east Jerusalem-based Al-Quds, published advertisements by several Palestinian individuals and institutions congratulating Shtayyeh on his appointment as prime minister.
On Sunday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced his decision to appoint Shtayyeh, member of the Fatah Central Committee, as prime minister. Shtayyeh will succeed Rami Hamdallah, who was first appointed prime minister in 2013. Hamdallah submitted his resignation to Abbas late January after Fatah called on the PA president to form a new government.
Shtayyeh, 61, called on Palestinians to donate instead to charities and to a non-governmental organization that provides humanitarian and development assistance to children in need.
Shtayyeh is expected to begin consultations with Fatah officials and representatives of other Palestinian factions in the coming days over the formation of a new government. Two PLO groups, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) are said to be opposed to joining the new government.
Hamas, meanwhile, reiterated its rejection of the new PA government, dubbing it “illegal and unconstitutional.”
Several Hamas officials said on Monday that they would not recognize the Shtayyeh government and said it would solidify the divide between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.