RAMALLAH, West Bank — Eight members of the Palestinian Democratic Union Party (FIDA), including Secretary-General Zahira Kamal, submitted their resignation April 3 from the party’s political bureau, the highest regulatory authority in the party. The resigning members also included FIDA parliamentarians Khaled al-Khatieb and Siham Barghouti.

This wave of resignations follows the decision of FIDA's Central Committee March 23 to partake in the government to be formed by Mohammad Shtayyeh.

Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the PLO Executive Committee and secretary-general of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, told Al-Monitor, “The government formation will be presented to President Mahmoud Abbas before the April 14 legal deadline. The parties that have so far agreed to take part in this government are Fatah, FIDA, the Palestinian People's Party (PPP), the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, the Arab Liberation Front and the Palestinian Liberation Front. The parties boycotting the government are the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the Palestinian National Initiative, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.”

During a meeting April 6 in Ramallah, FIDA’s political bureau refused the resignations by Kamal and her colleagues, and reaffirmed in a statement on the same day its decision to partake in the government.