Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haneya said on Sunday night that he presented the list of his Hamas-led cabinet and its political program to President Mahmoud Abbas.

"President Abbas promised to study it and answer us later," Haneya told a joint news conference after a one-hour meeting with Abbas at the latter's office in Gaza City.

"I briefed President Abbas on the cabinet's political platform and the list of ministers, and we discussed the legal procedures that should be taken after the cabinet is approved by the president," said Haneya.

The cabinet list must be first approved by Abbas before the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) holds a confidence vote on it. If the cabinet is endorsed by the PLC, the ministers will be sworn in by Abbas.

Abbas has little choice but to endorse the cabinet formed by Hamas, which now has an overwhelming majority in parliament.

Asked about the proposed cabinet list, Haneya only confirmed

Mahmoud al-Zahar, head of Hamas in the PLC, was appointed as minister of foreign affairs, and Sa'eed Seyam, Hamas PLC member, was nominated as minister of interior.

"When the cabinet is approved, the names would be published. There are 14 ministers from the West Bank and ten others from the Gaza Strip. The cabinet includes a woman and a Christian," said Haneya.

Haneya expressed optimism that the performance of his cabinet would be good, and that his cabinet would work hard towards protecting the national legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and lessening their suffering from the Israeli occupation.

Hamas' efforts to form a national unity government failed four weeks after Haneya was tasked with cabinet making following the radical group's victory in the Jan. 25 parliamentary elections.

All other parties in the parliament including the former ruling Fatah movement refused to join the Hamas-led cabinet because Hamas rebuffed their demands to abide by existing agreements with Israel and recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization, headed by Abbas, as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

According to a draft list of ministers published by several local news websites, the cabinet is made up of Hamas figures as well as independents and technocrats with Hamas holding nearly all key and sensitive posts.

Source: Xinhua