A number of Palestinian ministers have resigned to run for primaries of the ruling Fatah movement and the parliamentary election, a senior official said on Thursday.
  
Samir Helila, secretary general of the cabinet, told the Voice of Palestine that most of ministers who intend to stand in the primaries and the parliamentary election have resigned.
  
He said names of the resigned ministers and formation of a temporary cabinet will be announced by Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei by early next week.
  
In another development, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Rawhi Fattouh threatened to resign if the Fatah primaries are postponed.
  
Fattouh told reporters that he will not accept any delay of the primaries scheduled for Friday to elect Fatah candidates for the upcoming poll, the second since the Palestinian National Authority was founded in 1994.
  
The first Palestinian parliamentary election was held in 1996.
  
The Fatah, chaired by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, has been challenged by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), a radical group with strong street popularity.

(Source: Xinhua)