THE WALL WENT UP THAT THE "WALL" MIGHT COME DOWN:

Palestinian Lawmakers OK New Cabinet; Most Arafat Loyalists Out: Much of the slate is made up of reform- minded technocrats and first-timers. (Henry Chu, February 25, 2005, LA Times)

Palestinian lawmakers ended days of rancorous debate Thursday and broke with the legacy of Yasser Arafat, giving their approval to a reformist Cabinet filled with technocrats and newcomers and nearly devoid of the late president's loyalists.

The 24 ministers, nearly three-quarters of them freshmen and two of them women, were sworn in late Thursday and were to start work today as the Palestinian Authority's first post-Arafat government.

In a sign of how the political scene has shifted since Arafat's death in November, the lineup includes only a couple of people, including Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Shaath, who are considered part of the old guard that surrounded Arafat.

Shaath, who also has the information portfolio, is the Cabinet's only elected legislator. Most of the new ministers are academics and professionals, a concession by Prime Minister Ahmed Korei to lawmakers who had insisted that the government abandon the cronyism and corruption of past years in favor of expertise.

The transformation of the Middle Easty is proceeding so smoothly and at such a rapid pace that we'll start to see stories any day now about how everyone knew it was inevitable and supported it 100% and George Bush just followed along--which is the Left's version of Reagan winning the Cold War. If he plays his cards right, Mr. Abbas could even be their Gorbachev...

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 25, 2005 8:10 AM