The Prime Minister's Office was created in 2003 to manage day-to-day activities of the Palestinian government, which had previously been performed by Yasser Arafat.
Abbas resigned as Prime Minister on 6 September 2003, citing lack of support from Israel and the United States as well as "internal incitement" against his government.
[3][4] Abbas was followed in the office by Ahmed Qurei, who as Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council became acting prime minister.
Arafat nominated Qurei for the post of Prime Minister, who agreed to form an "emergency government" on 10 September.
Another issue was Arafat's opposition to Qurie's nomination of General Nasser Yousef as Interior Minister who would control the security forces.
After Arafat's death in November 2004 and Mahmoud Abbas' subsequent victory in the Palestinian presidential election in January 2005, which was boycotted by Hamas, Qurei was asked to continue in his post and form a new government, which took place on 24 February 2005.
Abbas also ordered all diplomatic statements and dealings be coordinated with the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organization, and not the Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar.
The Basic Law requires that a new prime minister and his government are presented to the Palestinian Legislative Council for approval or confirmation.
[9] Prime ministers appointed on an acting, caretaker or emergency basis do not need to obtain approval or confirmation of the PLC.
Following the international sanctions against the government led by Hamas, which was designated a terrorist organisation by several countries between 2006 and 2007, Abbas instead appointed experts as prime ministers since 2007, who are considered rather independent from party interests by observers.