Palestinian cabinet quits in reform move by Abbas (Reuters)

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – The Palestinian cabinet resigned on Monday, in an apparent attempt by President Mahmoud Abbas to show his willingness for change in the wake of a popular uprising in Egypt.

The new cabinet will be charged with preparing for elections that have been announced for later this year, and will also be expected to boost the government's profile as it seeks international backing in its standoff with Israel.

Hamas, which has sour relations with Abbas, says it will not take part in the ballot or recognize the results -- a decision that will make it hard for Abbas to stage a credible vote.

The latest reshuffle had been demanded by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who has spearheaded efforts to create institutions for a Palestinian state. The Western-backed Fayyad will retain his post and select new ministers, officials said.

"The cabinet resigned today and the formation of a new cabinet will take place as soon as possible," Ali Jarbawi, minister of planning, told Reuters.

Financed by international donors and engaged in security coordination with Israel, the Palestinian Authority has a limited mandate in the occupied West Bank. It lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas Islamists in a 2007 civil war.

Abbas's credibility has been further sapped by stalled talks with Israel on a deal to establish an independent state, and the Palestinians have increasingly looked to build international consensus to try to pressure Israel into making concessions.

Hamas, which rejects permanent co-existence with Israel, said the reshuffle was motivated by Abbas's fears that the Palestinians would follow the lead of angry Egyptians.

"Unless Mahmoud Abbas carries out serious security and political reforms, his authority will be subject to the wrath of the Palestinian people," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in the Gaza Strip.

PUBLIC CRITICISM

Although several anti-Abbas protests bubbled up in the West Bank after the upheaval began in Egypt on January 25, he has not faced large-scale demonstrations in the territory, whose economy has strengthened significantly in recent years.

However, 75-year-old Abbas has faced public criticism over the functioning of his government. Of the 24 posts in the outgoing administration, only 16 were staffed. Two ministers resigned and six are marooned in Gaza.

Abbas said the new cabinet should focus on "strengthening the preparedness of the national institutions for the establishment of the state of independent Palestine," according to the official news agency WAFA.

On Saturday the Palestinian Authority said it would call legislative and presidential elections by September.

The last election was in 2006, when Hamas won a majority in the parliament. It shared power with Abbas, but relations rapidly soured and the following year, the Islamists seized control of Gaza, leaving the PA in charge of the West Bank.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Editing by Maria Golovnina)

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Pakistan's Cabinet quits in reshuffle

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari's office said Zardari's goal is to have "a mean, lean and aboveboard Cabinet."Shrinking the Cabinet is an effort to cut spending, improve performance, officials sayGovernment spokesman: The move has nothing to do with protests elsewherePakistan's Cabinet is one of the world's largest, with more than 50 ministers
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's Cabinet ministers submitted their resignations to the prime minister on Wednesday as part of the government's plan to dissolve and reappoint a smaller Cabinet, the prime minister's press secretary told CNN.
"All the ministers have tendered their resignation," said Shabir Anwar. "The resignations will now be sent to the president for acceptance."
Pakistan's ruling party announced plans to shrink the Cabinet last week. Party officials insisted Friday the decision was not a move to preempt an uprising similar to those which have taken place in Egypt and Tunisia.
The plan to shrink the Cabinet is an effort to cut spending and improve the government's performance, government spokesman Qamar Zaman Qaira told CNN.
"This has nothing to do with the situation in Egypt and the Middle East," Qaira said. "This is something the people and political parties demanded."
A statement by the office of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari last week said Zardari's goal is to have "a mean, lean and aboveboard Cabinet."
The resigning ministers will continue their duties until a new Cabinet has been appointed, government officials said.
Pakistan's ruling party will begin the selection process once the president officially accepts Wednesday's resignations, Anwar said. "The party leadership will choose the new ministers after consulting with other political parties," he said.
Zardari will have significant influence in choosing the new ministers since he heads the ruling Pakistan People's Party.
Analysts say some of the the more than 50 ministers who resigned will be reappointed to their old posts.
"The interior minister is not going anywhere," an official from Interior Minister Rehman Malik's office told CNN. The official asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Wednesday's resignations come amid mounting pressure on the Pakistani government from several fronts to downsize one of the largest Cabinets in the world and improve performance.
More than 50 Cabinet members, critics say, is far too many for a country that's facing a crippling economic crisis. Last month, Pakistan's leading opposition party gave an ultimatum to the government: reduce the size of its Cabinet or face public protests.
Last year Pakistani lawmakers passed a constitutional amendment that limits the number of federal ministers following the next parliamentarian elections in 2013.
The government's plan to downsize its Cabinet is an effort to change the perception that it's losing its hold on power, said political analyst Aysia Riaz. "I think it's all that pressure that's making the government reinvent itself at this stage, to do whatever it can to hold onto power."
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