RAMALLAH, Saturday, April 13, 2019 (WAFA) – The new 18th Palestinian government headed by Mohammad Shtayeh was sworn-in today in Ramallah in front of President Mahmoud Abbas.
While most of the 22 members of the government are new, the key ministries such as the finance and foreign ministries, remained in the hands of the incumbents.
Following is a list of the new cabinet ministers:
- 1-Mohammad Shtayeh, Prime Minister (new)
- 2-Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Information
- 3-Ziad Abu Amr, Deputy Prime Minister
- 4-Shukri Bishara, Finance Minister
- 5-Riyad Malki, Foreign Minister
- 6-Rola Maayya, Tourism Minister
- 7-Mai Kaileh, Minister of Health (new)
- 8-Khaled Ossaili, Economy Minister (new)
- 9-Atef Abu Seif, Minister of Culture (new)
- 10-Mohammad Shalaldeh, Justice Minister (new)
- 11-Majdi Saleh, Minister of Local Government (new)
- 12-Riad Atari, Minister of Agriculture (new)
- 13-Ishaq Sadr, Minister of Telecommunications, (new)
- 14-Nasri Abu Jish, Labor Minister (new)
- 15-Marwan Awartani, Minister of Education (new)
- 16-Mahmoud Abu Moueis, Minister of Higher Education (new)
- 17-Amal Hamad, Minister of Women Affairs (new)
- 18-Assem Salem, Minister of Transportation (new)
- 19-Mohammad Ziyara, Minister of Construction and Housing (new)
- 20-Ahmad Majdalani, Minister of Social Affairs (new)
- 21-Fadi Hidmi, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs (new)
- 22-Usama Sadawi, Minister of State (new)
The Prime Minister kept the Interior Ministry and Waqf and Religious Affairs Ministry until someone else is named to these two posts.
President Abbas asked Fatah Central Committee member Mohammad Shtayeh to form the new Palestinian government on March 10 to replace the government of Rami Hamdallah, which rendered its resignation on January 29 after four years in office.
The President said then that the mission of the new government will be to speed up reuniting the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as to work toward holding legislative elections in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip to strengthen democracy.
It will also continue to financially support families of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and those killed by the Israeli army, to strengthen the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land in facing the Israeli settlement policies, defend Jerusalem and its holy Muslim and Christian places in light of Israeli attempts to change their status and to build a strong national economy.
Shtayeh was born in the village of Tel, near Nablus, in 1958 and got his undergraduate degree at Birzeit University and his doctorate degree in economics from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom.
He also served as director of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR) and as minister of housing and construction. He was elected to Fatah Central Committee in 2009 and again in 2016.
M.K.
Source: http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=US4etga110069282697aUS4et
