TEL AVIV, Oct 30: Approval of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s new cabinet by parliament failed to dampen criticism from reformers who accuse him of surrounding himself with cronies ill-suited to the task of extracting his people from an unprecedented crisis.

“No fundamental change has been made in the cabinet line-up, as the Palestinian legislative council demanded,” former Arab League spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi said.

In the pre-vote debate on Tuesday, Ashrawi, an independent, said she would not support the new cabinet because there were “a lot of questions” that Arafat did not answer in his opening speech.

But the embattled Palestinian leader managed to secure approval of the new team, little changed from the old one, by beating the drum of national unity in the face of Israel.

After a debate which saw strong words from deputies, 56 out of 79 who voted approved the cabinet, 18 were against and five abstained.

Arafat declared a victory for Palestinian democracy, but Ashrawi said: “It is not a break with the past, with the dominant methods and mentality, and (the cabinet) has not been formed according to the criteria of competence.”

She saw the vote not as approving the cabinet but “confirming the legitimacy” of Arafat under attacks from Israel and the United States.

Left-winger Mustafa Barghuti, like Ashrawi, spoke of a defeat for the parliament, which had forced Arafat’s short-lived last cabinet to resign in June by threatening a vote of no confidence in it.

Ziad Abu Amru, another independent, questioned the ability of the new cabinet to change the situation of the Palestinians and get them out of their political and economic crisis.

“We need a government of competent and credible people, two qualities which few of the new ministers have,” he said.

He also said deputies mainly wanted to save Arafat’s face and support him politically.—AFP