Palestinian president Abbas accepts resignation of PM

RAMALLAH - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accepted on Tuesday the resignation of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, the presidential office said in a press statement.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Abbas accepted the resignation of Hamdallah and agreed to keep his Palestinian Authority (PA) consensus government running until the formation of the new government.

The report said that Abbas received the decision of the PA consensus government put it at Abbas' disposal, which was made after the weekly cabinet meeting of the government chaired by Hamdallah.

The report also said that Abbas will start his consultations and contacts on the formation of the new government that will comprise factions of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The mission of the new government is to prepare for holding the parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories. Last parliamentary elections were held in January 2006, where Islamic Hamas movement won an overwhelming majority.

Hamdallah declared his resignation following the weekly cabinet meeting Tuesday held in the West Bank city of Ramallah, saying the move was aimed at ending the long-time internal division and achieving national reconciliation.

Hamdallah, 60 years old, was first appointed as prime minister in July 2013. His government went through two re-shuffles until it was declared by the president as National Conciliation Government in June 2014 and was mandated to seek an end to the internal division and achieve reconciliation.