The Palestinian Cabinet resigned today after Yasser Arafat lost a showdown with MPs - the most serious challenge to the veteran fighter since he returned from exile in 1994.
Earlier in the day, Arafat had set January 20 as a date for presidential and parliamentary elections in an attempt to defuse the confrontation with disgruntled MPs who accused him of making only half-hearted reform efforts.
However, the gambit failed, and MPs insisted on going ahead with a vote of no confidence in the 21 member Cabinet which resigned before the vote could be taken.
"There is a crisis of confidence," said MP Salah Taameri, a veteran member of Arafat's Fatah movement. "Believe us when we say it's serious."
Arafat now has two weeks to present a new Cabinet to the parliament.
The day began with Arafat summoning Fatah MPs, who dominate the 88 seat parliament, to his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah to try to persuade them to back the Cabinet.
He had reshuffled portfolios in June, dismissing some ministers and naming five new ones as part of what he said would be major internal reforms.
However, MPs complained the changes were largely cosmetic, and that many ministers considered incompetent or tainted by suspicion of corruption had been allowed to stay on.
Many of the Fatah MPs told Arafat today they would not back the Cabinet. After the meeting, Arafat issued a decree setting January 20 as the date for presidential and parliamentary elections - a move expected to displease the United States, which had sought a delay that might help sideline the Palestinian leader.
Palestinian officials said setting an election date was part of a compromise floated at the meeting. Arafat would set a date for elections, rendering the current Cabinet a temporary one.
In this case, the MPs said, they would be willing to hold a vote only on the five new ministers appointed in June, who are seen as honest and hard-working and enjoy wide support.
Arafat, apparently fearing defeat, accepted the deal, the officials said.
However, parliament's legal committee decided later that the entire Cabinet must be presented for approval, not only the five new ministers.
By mid-afternoon, 32 of 35 MPs having addressed parliament said they would vote no-confidence in the government, making it increasingly unlikely Arafat would get his cabinet approved. In all, 65 MPs attended, either in Ramallah or by video conference from Gaza.
Just before the vote was to begin, Cabinet ministers submitted their resignations to Arafat, who accepted them.
The setting of an election date came as something of a surprise. The United States had been seeking a delay in presidential elections to gain time to find ways of sidelining Arafat. President George Bush has urged the Palestinians to elect a new leadership.
While many Palestinians find fault with Arafat, they say they resent US efforts to try to push him aside and will not accept meddling in their affairs. Reuven Rivlin, an Israeli Cabinet minister, said the Palestinians must know that if they re-elect Arafat, "we will continue to treat them as a people led by a terrorist."
No serious contender against Arafat has emerged.
AP