PM Haniyeh: This government will not resign before its term is over

September 8, 2006

Rafah - Ma'an - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh has assured on Friday that the current government will not resign before its term is over, regardless of the political pressure and the blockade imposed on the Palestinian people.

In his Friday sermon at a mosque in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Haniyeh said, "the teachers' demands are legal and just but, because of the unprecedented siege on the Palestinian people, the government is financially unable to fulfil all the demands at once".

The prime minister stressed that the teachers' strike should be directed against those parties who are besieging the Palestinian people, rather than against the Palestinian government who is suffering under the same siege.

In his sermon, Haniyeh also affirmed that serious negotiations with President Mahmoud Abbas are ongoing in order to form a national unity government. He said that a national unity government would give all the Palestinian factions and groups the opportunity to improve their political performance and the services offered to the Palestinian people.

Concerning his expected 'historic' speech, Haniyeh said that he intends to address the Palestinian people and talk about the details of the current situation and the hardships in Palestine. He affirmed that he will not be shouting "unachievable mottos like the liberation of Jerusalem or the release of the ministers and Palestinian Legislative Council members".

Link:

The victims of the strike are the students, calls grow for classes to resume