Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas officially assigned on Sunday his long-time adviser Mohammed Shtayyeh to form the new Palestinian government, Trend reported referring to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
The assignment came after the Fatah Central Committee recommended Shtayyeh, also a committee member, form the new government as successor of former Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.
Abbas accepted the resignation of Hamdallah on Jan. 29 and asked him to serve as acting prime minister until the formation of a new government, according to WAFA.
Shtayyeh's government will be the 18th Palestinian government in the history of the Palestinian Authority which was formed in accordance to Oslo peace accords signed between the Palestinians and Israel in 1993.
Senior Fatah officials said the formation of a new government is aimed at increasing the pressure for new elections and ending the internal Palestinian division that began after Islamic Hamas movement seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Born in 1958 in the West Bank, Shtayyeh was the former minister of public work and housing in the Palestinian Authority. He is also an academic, economic expert and former member in the Palestinian peace negotiations team with Israel.