The Palestinian Government Reform Agenda: Framework, Prospective, Funding, and Hope
Saturday, May 14, 2022 –
The Palestinian Government has launched a large-scale workshop for administrative, financial, economic, legal, educational, and healthcare services reformation in accordance with a comprehensive reform plan that the Government shared with donor countries.
The 21-step reform plan that encompasses the Palestinian Government was presented by the Prime Minister of the State of Palestine, Dr. Mohammed Shtayyeh, during the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) conference last week in the Belgian capital of Brussels.
“A pressing need of the Palestinian people rather than a requirement”
With these words, the Prime Minister described the Palestinian reformation plan during the biannual conference, affirming that it has the full support of Mr. President Mahmoud Abbas.
Dr. Shtayyeh called on donor states to support his comprehensive plan allocated to different administrative, financial, legal, economic, and social sectors. However, he stressed that the reforms, whatever they may be, will be insufficient to address "the breakdown in the Palestinian economic structure due to the Israeli colonial settlement occupation."
Furthermore, Dr. Mohammed called on the international community to bring pressure to bear on Israel to remove any impediments to the development process and to continue their support to Palestine to enable us to continue to fulfill our obligations.
A Structural Breakdown
"Suffering from a structural breakdown, the confined and besieged Palestinian economy does not control its resources or capabilities," the Prime Minister said. Furthermore, he confirmed that "the Israeli occupation prohibits projects in the so-called "C" area, which constitutes 61% of the West Bank, without the Israeli occupation's authority's permission."
For his part, The Secretary-General of the Palestinian Council of Ministers, Dr. Amjad Ghanem, stated that the reform plan was due to "accumulated and deep-rooted impediments that pose challenges to achieving inclusive development in Palestine."
“The Israeli occupation's control over natural resources and border crossings precludes the implementation of comprehensive development”
The comment was made by the Secretary-General in an interview with the British newspaper Independent Arabia as he emphasized that His Excellency the President and the Palestinian Government have a strong political will for the implementation of the plan. Dr. Ghanem further stated that “Mr. President will pass a law binding future governments to the plan.”
The plan, “which took more than three months to prepare and was developed in collaboration with civil society by various governmental bodies,” “contains an outlining of broad reformations and their detailed items,” Dr. Amjad said.
"Reforming the administrative system; the first step," Dr. Ghanem said in the midst of talking about the Palestinian reformation plan, as the administrative system is considered the backbone of all sectors, pointing out that the existing system is outdated.
The Secretary-General expressed the need to reorganize and update the system to enable it to respond to various challenges and live up to the aspirations of the Palestinian people.
An International Corporation
His Excellency proceeded to say, “An international outsourcing company will review the entire administrative sector and work on drafting a new civil service act and a more effective administrative system in an incentive environment.”
Dr. Ghanem did not rule out encouraging employees' early voluntary retirement, noting that there are 88,000 employees, 55,000 of whom are in the education sector, 15,000 in the healthcare services sector, and about 18,000 in the Palestinian government's administrative apparatus.
On the imbalances in governmental work, the Secretary-General pointed out the Lack of a single interconnected government database among public institutions, saying that The 18th Government initiated the establishment of the database two years ago.
With regard to Financial Reform, His Excellency indicated that it would focus on reducing the wage bill by reducing expenditures and increasing government revenues through proper taxation, VAT in particular, and the adoption of special legislation on VAT. Studies have shown that more than $2 billion a year in VAT could be collected, rather than the approximately $300 million that the government currently collects, Dr. Amjad added.
The Secretary-General continued, "The national revenue of the State of Palestine is $16 billion; therefore, collecting $300 million, of which in VAT, is considered very low."
With regard to Educational Reform, Ghanem indicated that the first step began with the enactment of a new law on "the profession of the teacher's job, the development of curriculum, teaching methods, moving away from memorization, and providing an incentive and attractive school environment for students."
With respect to the Healthcare Services sector, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Council of Ministers indicated that it is currently being developed by reforming the health insurance system, setting a limit on medical referrals, and introducing stricter procedures for the purchase of medications.
In conclusion, Dr. Ghanem highlighted a different hindrance to the implementation of the plan other than the occupation, which is employees' concerns and reception of change.
Khalil Mousa - Independent Arabia