Ramallah – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has chosen his close adviser
Mohammad Shtayyeh to be the new prime minister, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Sunday.
Abbas tasked Shtayyeh with forming the new government, according to the news agency.
Shtayyeh is a Fatah central committee member and head of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction.
His appointment comes after Abbas accepted the resignation of outgoing Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in January and
asked him to serve as a caretaker until a new government is formed.
A new PLO government would officially mark the end of the stalled reconciliation efforts between Abbas’ Fatah party and
the radical Islamic Hamas movement, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
