Poll Shows Fayyad Most Favored By Palestinians For Role Of PM

Thursday June 09, 2011 17:34 by Kevin Murphy - IMEMC and Agencies

A new poll conducted by Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre has shown that incumbent Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad is the most favoured among Palestinians to lead the next unity government.

The poll, based on a random sample of 1198 Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, showed that 44.4% preferred Fayyed for the position while 12.3% favoured Gaza law maker Jamal al-Khudaree.

The poll showed that leading up to fresh elections in 2012, just over twice the number of respondents, at 26.5%, preferred a Fatah led government.

A majority, 79.1%, expressed optimism at the recent reconciliation agreement between the two main political parties Fatah and Hamas. Similarly two thirds were optimistic about Palestinian moves for recognition of statehood at the UN in September.

The poll also showed a large degree of pessimism of the US role in the region. 91.8% insist that the US is biased towards Israel in the conflict. A vast majority expressed pessimism, 44.4%, or disregard, 43.6%, for US President Barrack Obama’s speech on the region to AIPAC.

The poll has a 3% point margin of error.

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