U.S. hopes for reform in Palestinian leadership

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- While acknowledging Yasser Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian people, the Bush administration is pushing for reforms aimed at developing new, more responsible leaders in the Palestinian Authority, according to U.S. officials.

One Bush official said that the administration is seeking a Palestinian Authority that "is not centered around one individual but rather a total political structure."

"We tried starting with the individual to get to the structure, and that didn't work. So now, we have to try building the structure first," the official said. "Arafat can be in that structure, but the structure can't be Arafat. We are promoting the concept of a political entity, where offices and officials have power based on the authority given to them by the Palestinian people."

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When asked if such a reformed Palestinian Authority would dilute the concentrated power Arafat enjoys and make him less important, the official said, "Yeah, absolutely."

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Wednesday that "as we look to Chairman Arafat, we recognize him as head of the Palestinian Authority, and we would expect him to play a constructive role" in reforming Palestinian institutions.

But Boucher added, "As we look forward to anticipation of a Palestinian state down the road as a product of negotiation, to live side by side with Israel, one has to expect that leadership to emerge and [be] capable of governing, of establishing that state in a way that's comparable to others.

"That means as we rebuild these institutions, as we work with them in the future, we want to see it go that way."

Another senior administration official and Western diplomats voiced concern that the appearance of the United States and Israel driving such reforms could make the Palestinian leadership resist carrying them out.

"Don't lose sight of the fact that the Palestinians themselves have called for reform," the senior administration official said. "Now the issue has been hijacked by the international community, and it makes it look like it's a condition. I am afraid it will slow down the Palestinians."

The official said that even though the Palestinian Authority did need to reform itself and build up democratic institutions, in the short term "all decisions would still be made by one man" -- Arafat.

"We are a democratic country, and the decisions at the end of the day are made by one man, the president," the senior official said. "The Palestinians have their own views and their own internal opposition, and they need to be involved in sorting this out. Even those who advocate this reform know we have to do it through the Palestinians, not to them."

One senior Western diplomat argued that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's insistence on reform of the Palestinian Authority, however necessary it may be, could be "counterproductive."

"I don't think the Palestinian Authority will rebuild according to Israeli design," the diplomat said, adding that the Arab world, along with the European Union and United States, should take the lead in pressuring the Palestinians to institute reforms.