The Palestinian Authority government was sworn in on Thursday in Ramallah by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, following Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah's agreement to permanently take office. Hamdallah was appointed to his post in June, after predecessor Salam Fayyad resigned. Two weeks later, Hamdallah, former president of An-Najah University in Shechem, surprised Abbas by submitting his resignation. Hamdallah decided to quit in protest of the appointment of two deputy prime ministers for political and economic affairs. The "power struggle" crisis was averted after Abbas asked Hamdallah, on August 13, to take up the post again permanently and form a new government within five weeks, which Hamdallah accepted. Hamdallah apologized to Abbas for the embarrassing resignation. Hamdallah has been serving as prime minister of a caretaker government after Abbas agreed to keep him in his position. The two deputy prime ministers, Mohamed Mustafa and Ziad Abu Amr, who were the center of his resignation, retained their posts on Thursday. Following the swearing in ceremony, Abbas chaired a meeting of the new government.
