A Palestinian protests against the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. (AFP)

Ramallah, July 21 (Reuters): The Palestinian parliament today urged President Yasser Arafat to accept his Prime Minister’s resignation and appoint a government empowered to carry out reforms and halt a descent into anarchy.

Unprecedented street unrest against a Palestinian Authority widely seen as corrupt, resistant to reform and out of touch spurred Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie to resign, touching off a leadership crisis that some fear could turn into civil war.

Lawmakers at a crisis session voted 43-4 for a resolution calling on Arafat to accept Qurie’s resignation, which would dissolve his cabinet, and appoint a government “capable of carrying out its responsibilities” — a veiled demand to endow it with powers to impose law and order.

Qurie had grown frustrated with his lack of power to make Palestinian institutions, above all a muddle of security agencies plagued by feuding and cronyism, more democratic and accountable. He submitted his resignation on Saturday only to be refused by Arafat.

International mediators regard such reforms as critical to reducing violence in the Palestinian conflict with Israel and salvaging a “road map” peace plan promising Palestinians a state in Israeli-occupied territories. A vocal pro-reform critic of Arafat was shot and wounded by gunmen firing into his Ramallah home yesterday in what seemed to be part of a chaotic power struggle.

Legislator Nabil Amr was shot twice in the leg after returning from a television interview in which he criticised Arafat’s performance.

There was no claim of responsibility. Amr's home had been shot at before.