Untitled Document

Latest Poll:

Poll No. 160
Date: 22 January, 2007

The most recent poll prepared by. Dr. Nabil Kukali on the present general conditions prevailing in the Palestinian territories has revealed that:

(59.4 %) of the Palestinians are at various degrees in favor of holding presidential elections.
(60.7%) are in favor of holding new PLC elections.
(35.0%) are in favor of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas for the PA presidency,
(26 %) would vote for Mr. Ismael Haniyye, and (21.8%) are in favor of Marwan Barghouthi .
(80.4%) are worried about their personal security.
(77.2%) believe that the halt of the financial assistance accelerates the severity of violence in the region.

Beit Sahour – Information Section:
In the most recent poll prepared by Dr. Nabil Kukali, Director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) and conducted during the period from January 2 – 9, 2007, a random sample of (1015) respondents representing the various demographic specimens of the population in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip over (18) years has been interviewed. The outcome revealed that (80.4 %) are worried about their personal security.

A high rate of the respondents reaching (77.2 %), Dr. Kukali said, believe that the halt of the financial assistance accelerates the rate of violence in the region. The said rate is allocated as follows: (44.9%) in the West Bank and (32.3 %) in Gaza Strip. (76 %) of the Palestinian public, Dr. Kukali added, believe that the security condition at present is worse than it was a year before.

Dr. Kukali pointed furthermore out that (59.4 %) of the Palestinians are, at various degrees, in favor of holding presidential elections at present. (35 %) see Mr. Mahmoud Abbas as their favorite candidate for the PA-president office, followed by Mr. Ismael Haniyyeh with (26.1 %) in the second position and Mr. Marwan Bargouthi with (21.8 %) in the third position.

Whom to be held responsible for the prevailing Palestinian crisis:
Responding to the question: "Whom you think should be held responsible for the prevailing Palestinian crisis?" (25.6 %) answered 'Israel', (21.5 %) 'The persistence of Hamas in its positions ', (19.3 %) 'The American intervention', (11.5 %) 'The hesitation of the Prime Minister to take bold decisions in dealing with the crisis', (10.3 %) 'The weak position of the PA president in ruling the crisis', (9.3 %) 'the persistence of Fateh in its positions', (1.9 %) 'The Arab position' and (0.6 %) answered ' I don't know '.

The Security Condition:
With respect to the question: "Up to which extent are you concerned about your personal security?" (42.2 %) answered ' I'm worried', (38.2 %) 'Too much worried ', (14.1 %) 'Not so much worried' and (5.5 %) 'Not worried at all'.

And responding further to the question: " How do you see the prevailing security condition compared with that prior to the taking-over of the post of the Prime Minister by the present government ?", (76.1 %) said ' it became worse', (22.8 %) 'It became better', and (1.1 %) 'Don't know '.

Is there a link between violence and the halt of the financial assistance ?
(77.2 %) of the Palestinians believe that the halt of the foreign financial assistance to the Palestinian government would further increase the severity of violence in the region, whilst (8.5 %) said that ' it would curtail the violence' and (13.8 %) are of the opinion that ' its cut-off now is not effecting the violence at all' and (0.5 %) declined to respond to the question.

The Presidential Elections:
Responding to the question: "Are you in favor or not in favor of conducting presidential elections at present?", (34.2 %) are 'strongly in favor', (25.3 %) are ' somewhat in favor ', ( 20 %) 'Strongly oppose', (19.8 %) 'Somehow oppose' and (0.7 %) answered: ' I don't know '.

The favorite candidate for the PA presidency:
With respect to the question: "Who – according to your opinion – would be the favorite candidate of Fateh for the PA presidency in the coming presidential elections ?", (39.2 %) said 'Marwan Bargouthi', (38.7 %) 'Mahmoud Abbas ', (2.9 %) 'Ahmed Qurei ', (6.7 %) 'Others ' and (12.5 %) answered: ' I don't know '.

And on the question: "Whom you think would be the favorite candidate of Hamas for the PA presidency in the next presidential elections?" (50.5 %) answered 'Ismael Haniyyeh', (15.5 %) 'Aziz El-Duwaik', (9.2 %) 'Mahmoud Azzahar', (6.9 %) 'Others ' and (17.9 %) answered: ' I don't know '.

Responding furthermore to the question: "Who is your favorite candidate for the PA presidency in the next presidential elections?" (35 %) said ' Mahmoud Abbas ', (26.6 %) 'Ismael Haniyyeh ', (21.8 %) 'Marwan Bargouthi', (2.4 %) 'Aziz El-Duwaik ', (1.3 %) 'Mahmoud Azzahar ', (1%) 'Ahmed Qurei ', (5.3 %) 'Others ' and (6.6 %) 'I don't know '.

The Elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council:
With regard to the question: "Are you in favor or not in favor of holding new PLC elections at present "? (38.1 %) said they ' are strongly in favor ', (22.6 %) are ' somewhat in favor ', (14.3 %) 'Somehow oppose ', (24.3 %) 'Strongly oppose' and (0.7 %) answered: ' I don't know '.

Participation of Hamas in the Palestinian Authority:
(53.4 %) of the Palestinians consider the decision of Hamas taking part in the Palestinian Authority as a ' wrong decision ', whilst (41 %) said it was a ' right decision' and (5.6 %) declined to express their opinion.
And on the question: " A year after the present government being in office, has your conviction that this government would ever be successful in the implementation of its below-mentioned election campaign promises become bolstered or rather fainted ?", the answers came as follows:

A. "Reform and Change": (33.8 %) said their conviction has 'become bolstered', (64.7 %) 'Become fainted' and (1.5 %) 'Don't know '.
B. "One hand builds, the other hand resists": (30.2 %) are of the opinion that their conviction on this point has 'become bolstered', (67.8 %) 'Become fainted ' and (2 %) 'Don't know '.
C. "To put an end to the lawlessness ": (23.7 %) has ' become bolstered',
(74.3 %) has 'become fainted' and (2 %) 'Don't know '.
D. "To put an end to the corruption": (32.9 %) became 'bolstered' in their conviction, (65.2 %) 'Fainted' and (1.9 %) 'Don't know'

The Palestinian Television:
(36.5 %) of the Palestinians evaluated the performance of the Palestinian Television as 'good', (35.8 %) as 'mediocre', (27.4 %) as 'bad' and (0.3 %) didn't respond to the question.

The Political Condition:
(74 %) of the Palestinians consider the political conditions at present as "bad' compared with those conditions before the year 2006, whilst (24.2 %) said they are 'better' and (1.8 %) hesitated to answer the question.

The Relations between the Factions:
(76.6 %) of the respondents were of the opinion that the relations between the Palestinian factions at present compared with those of the year 2005 were bad, whilst (20.9 %) said that they are better and (2.5 %) declined to answer the question.

A View on the Methodology of the Survey:
Mr. Elias Kukali, a staff member of the Research and Studies Section at the PCPO, said that all interviews of this survey were conducted inside the respondents' homes, which are randomly chosen from all over the Palestinian territories in accordance with a proved scientific method applied by the PCPO.

The reliability degree of the study is ascertained by determining the Cronbach Alpha-Coefficient that is computed at (0.8477). The choices of the random sample, Mr. E. Kukali added, were taken from a total of (156) sites, from which (112) are located in the West Bank and (44) sites in Gaza Strip. The margin of error in this survey, Mr. E. Kukali established, was (± 3.08 %) at a confidence level of (95 %).

Mr. E. Kukali has further indicated that the rate of the female respondents in this survey was (48.4 %) whilst that of the male respondents was (51.6 %). The distribution of the random sample between the Palestinian two major regions was (62.5 %) in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and (37.5%) in Gaza Strip. The allocation of the residential areas was as follows: (50.7 %) for the towns, (31.9 %) for the villages and (17.4 %) for the camps.