President of the State of Palestine of Palestine declared by the Palestine Liberation Organization, formalized on 2 April 1989. In 1994, he also became the President of the Palestinian National Authority upon the PA's formal inauguration on 5 July. Arafat remained President until his death on 11 November 2004. President of the State of Palestine The President of the State of Palestine is the head of the State of Palestine. He is also the President of the Palestinian National Authority. Both functions were held by Yasser Arafat from 1989 and continued until his death in November 2004, and was continued by his successor Mahmoud Abbas. In
Sufian Abu Zaida Zayda served as a member of the Palestinian delegation responsible for negotiations regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Abu Zaida is a senior leader in Fatah and was a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council until May 31st, 2014, when he was removed from the movement because of his public criticism of President Abbas' way of rule. Dr. Abu Zaida stated in many occasions that there is lack of Separation of powers and that President Abbas took to himself too much power. Furthermore, Abu Zaida claims there is a lack of minimal democratic rights in Palestine