Date :27 Jun 2010
President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday ratified an anti-corruption law billed as a major step toward transparency following a series of corruption scandals and the dismissal of his chief of staff earlier this year.

"This law will be applied to all departments and bodies of the Palestinian Authority. Every official will be held accountable," Abbas said at a news conference in Ramallah alongside Rafiq An-Natshah, a presidential advisor on government integrity.

"Anyone who makes mistakes and makes unlawful gain by exploiting the PA or others must be punished," Abbas said. "Ratifying this law is a step in the right direction, moving toward a better future to build the foundation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The state begins with steps like security, economy, law, accountability, responsibility -- all of them elements that serve a strong state."

Passage of the law is the latest of several recent efforts to stamp out crack down on misconduct in Ramallah. Abbas fired Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, the Palestinian chief justice, and Rafiq Husseini, his chief of staff, in the aftermath of charges brought forward by whistle-blower Fahmi Shabana months earlier. Shabana, a former intelligence officer, once headed the PA's anti-corruption task force but became disillusioned with the Abbas administration's failure to take action on its conclusions and recommendations.