Development Studies Programme (DSP) - Opinion Polls: Poll No. 13

Annex 1

Results of Opinion Poll # 13

Date of Publication: August 5, 2003

Field Research: July, 24-26, 2003

Issues:

Living Conditions

New Government

The Truce

Elections

Freedom and Democracy

Annex 2

Sample size 1200 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza

Number of sampling localities: 75

Margin of error: + 3%

Section One: Living Conditions
	Total %	West Bank %	Gaza Strip %
1. At present, how would you describe your family’s economic situation?
1) Very good	2.9	2.0	4.6
2) Good	15.4	13.4	18.9
3) Fair	44.0	45.6	41.2
4) Bad	23.8	23.9	23.7
5) Very bad	13.9	15.1	11.7
2. Does the family have working breadwinner?
1) Yes	59.0	58.0	60.7
2) No	41.0	42.0	39.3
3. Are you optimistic or pessimistic?
1) Optimistic	42.1	37.3	50.5
2) In between	31.5	33.5	27.8
3) Pessimistic	25.2	28.1	20.0
4) Do not know	1.3	1.0	1.7
Section Two: The New Government:
4. How do evaluate the performance of Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas?
1) Good	26.5	25.4	28.6
2) Fair	34.3	33.9	35.0
3) Weak	28.2	29.7	25.6
4) No opinion	10.9	11.0	10.8
5. Three months after its appointment, how do you evaluate the performance of the new cabinet?
1) Good	23.0	19.8	28.8
2) Fair	38.9	39.4	37.9
3) Weak	31.0	33.0	27.6
4) No opinion	7.1	7.9	5.8
6. How do you evaluate the performance of the new government in the following fields?
Improving services of government institutions
1) Good	25.2	20.7	33.2
2) Fair	31.2	30.8	31.8
3) Weak	33.9	38.5	25.7
4) No opinion	9.7	10.0	9.2
Providing domestic security
1) Good	23.4	15.4	37.5
2) Fair	27.6	25.9	30.4
3) Weak	44.9	53.8	29.0
4) No opinion	4.2	4.9	3.1

Promoting the rule of law
1) Good	21.4	17.4	28.4
2) Fair	31.3	29.9	33.7
3) Weak	38.1	42.6	30.1
4) No opinion	9.2	10.1	7.8
Progress in negotiations with Israel
1) Good	20.0	21.8	16.7
2) Fair	29.4	29.1	29.9
3) Weak	44.8	42.5	49.0
4) No opinion	5.8	6.6	4.4
Support for the judiciary
1) Good	19.8	17.6	23.8
2) Fair	25.5	22.4	31.1
3) Weak	38.6	44.6	27.9
4) No opinion	16.0	15.4	17.2
Improving the economic situation
1) Good	18.1	13.3	26.5
2) Fair	29.7	29.8	29.7
3) Weak	48.8	53.4	40.7
4) No opinion	3.4	3.6	3.0
Fighting corruption
1) Good	17.9	15.5	23.8
2) Fair	21.0	21.3	20.4
3) Weak	52.2	55.6	46.2
4) No opinion	8.9	8.6	9.5
Ridding society of illegal weapons
1) Good	16.0	14.4	18.9
2) Fair	21.8	23.1	19.7
3) Weak	49.9	50.3	49.3
4) No opinion	12.2	12.3	12.1
Withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian cities
1) Good	13.2	12.1	15.0
2) Fair	21.6	20.2	24.0
3) Weak	61.3	63.7	56.9
4) No opinion	4.0	3.9	4.1
Easing Israeli closures
1) Good	11.8	8.7	17.3
2) Fair	25.1	20.5	33.3
3) Weak	60.3	68.1	46.3
4) No opinion	2.9	2.7	3.1

Reducing unemployment
1) Good	11.2	9.3	14.5
2) Fair	21.1	17.5	27.6
3) Weak	63.6	68.7	54.5
4) No opinion	4.0	4.4	3.3
7. Do you believe that the current Palestinian Government is empowered enough to resolve the above mentioned problems?
1) Yes	22.2	19.2	27.4
2) To some extent	35.5	38.7	29.9
3) No	36.1	35.6	37.1
4) No opinion	6.2	6.5	5.7
8. Do you believe that Israel is placing obstacles to impede the success of Palestinian Government?
1) Yes	78.7	97.3	77.6
2) To some extent	8.2	8.7	7.2
3) No	8.4	7.6	9.7
4) No opinion	4.8	4.5	5.4
9. Do you believe that the new Palestinian Government faces internal obstacles?
1) Yes	56.2	57.2	54.5
2) To some extent	18.0	16.2	21.2
3) No	16.4	16.2	16.6
4) No opinion	9.4	10.4	7.7
Section Three: The Truce
10. The majority of Palestinian political factions have declared a truce for three months where attacks on Israeli targets will be stopped; do you support or oppose such a truce?
1) support	74.4	71.1	80.1
2) oppose	22.8	25.6	17.8
3) No opinion	2.9	3.3	2.1
11. Do you support or oppose extending the truce to another three months?
1) support	61.3	58.5	66.2
2) oppose	32.3	34.0	29.3
3) No opinion	6.4	7.6	4.5
12. Do you think that political factions must abide by the truce?
1) support	75.3	73.1	79.3
2) oppose	19.6	21.5	16.4
3) No opinion	5.0	5.4	4.3
13. Do you think that Israel will abide by the truce?
1) yes	15.6	15.8	15.3
2) No	77.8	78.3	76.9
3) No opinion	6.6	5.9	7.8
Section Four: Elections
14. Do you support holding a presidential election?
1) yes	60.5	58.0	64.9
2) No	36.1	38.8	31.5
3) No opinion	3.4	3.3	3.6
15. Do you support holding parliamentary elections?
1) yes	73.9	72.2	76.8
2) No	22.6	24.9	18.4
3) No opinion	3.5	2.8	4.8
16. Do you support holding local council elections?
1) Yes	73.0	71.4	76.0
2) No	16.9	15.7	19.1
3) No opinion	3.2	2.3	4.8
4)	6.8	10.8	0.0
17. If legislative elections were held, would you vote for:
1) The current members	15.5	12.0	20.4
2) new members	55.3	53.9	57.9
3) not sure	29.2	33.4	21.7
18. If local council elections were held, would you vote for:
1) The current members	18.8	15.4	24.8
2) new members	57.4	58.6	55.5
3) not sure	23.7	26.1	19.7
19.When voting, which of the following is most important in selecting your candidate?
Honesty
1) very important	79.8	78.4	82.2
2) important	18.7	20.1	16.4
3) somewhat important	0.9	0.8	0.9
4) not important	0.3	0.2	0.5
5) not at all important	0.1	0.1	0.0
6) no opinion	0.3	0.4	0.0
Community Service
1) very important	64.7	60.6	72.0
2) important	32.4	36.1	25.9
3) somewhat important	1.2	1.3	1.0
4) not important	1.0	1.0	0.9
5) not at all important	0.1	0.1	0.0
6) no opinion	0.6	0.9	0.2

Educational Attainment
1) very important	62.4	57.8	70.5
2) important	32.8	37.2	24.9
3) somewhat important	3.1	3.1	3.0
4) not important	1.4	1.2	1.6
5) not at all important	0.1	0.1	0.0
6) no opinion	0.3	0.5	0.0
Religious Values
1) very important	55.4	50.0	64.8
2) important	31.1	35.5	23.3
3) somewhat important	6.8	6.6	7.0
4) not important	6.2	7.2	4.5
5) not at all important	0.2	0.1	0.4
6) no opinion	0.4	0.6	0.0
Role in the Struggle
1) very important	39.1	36.9	42.9
2) important	43.4	45.2	40.3
3) somewhat important	9.0	9.4	8.3
4) not important	7.5	7.2	8.1
5) not at all important	0.4	0.5	0.2
6) no opinion	0.6	0.8	0.2
Political Affiliation
1) very important	14.1	14.8	12.9
2) important	23.2	26.0	18.3
3) somewhat important	12.3	10.6	15.4
4) not important	42.6	40.6	46.3
5) not at all important	5.6	5.9	5.0
6) no opinion	2.1	2.1	2.2
Family Ties
1) very important	9.3	10.8	6.8
2) important	15.9	15.2	17.2
3) somewhat important	8.7	9.4	7.5
4) not important	51.7	49.4	55.8
5) not at all important	13.3	14.0	12.0
6) no opinion	1.1	1.3	0.6

20. Select the most important criteria that you will take into consideration when voting for a candidate?
1) Family Ties	5.9	7.8	2.6
2) Honesty	51.8	51.4	52.4
3) Religious Values	18.7	18.0	19.8
4) Educational Attainment	7.0	6.6	7.8
5) Role in the Struggle	2.9	3.7	1.6
6) Political Affiliation	0.8	1.0	0.5
7) Community Service	12.9	11.5	15.3
21.Evaluate the importance of following characteristics in a future president:
Honesty
1) very important	75.3	72.3	80.7
2) important	23.5	26.5	18.4
3) somewhat important	0.5	0.5	0.5
4) not important	0.2	0.3	0.2
5) not at all important	0.1	0.1	0.0
6) no opinion	0.4	0.4	0.2
Able to end the Occupation
1) very important	70.6	68.7	73.9
2) important	24.6	26.6	20.9
3) somewhat important	2.3	2.2	2.5
4) not important	1.6	1.5	1.6
5) no opinion	1.0	0.9	1.1
Committed to Islamic values
1) very important	66.3	59.2	78.9
2) important	28.2	33.9	18.2
3) somewhat important	2.8	4.1	0.7
4) not important	2.3	2.3	2.2
5) not at all important	0.1	0.2	0.0
6) no opinion	0.3	0.4	0.0
Committed to Rule of Law
1) very important	60.5	65.6	97.6
2) important	36.8	40.2	30.8
3) somewhat important	1.4	1.6	0.8
4) not important	0.5	0.5	0.4
5) not at all important	0.3	0.3	0.4
6) no opinion	0.5	0.8	0.0

Able to resolve social problems
1) very important	58.6	57.5	60.6
2) important	37.1	38.7	34.2
3) somewhat important	3.2	2.9	3.9
4) not important	0.4	0.3	0.7
5) no opinion	0.6	0.7	0.5
Possesses International Diplomacy Skills
1) very important	55.0	53.4	57.9
2) important	39.7	41.6	36.3
3) somewhat important	2.7	2.9	2.3
4) not important	1.2	0.7	2.0
5) no opinion	1.4	1.3	1.5
Possesses a College Degree
1) very important	53.2	49.5	59.9
2) important	36.7	39.4	31.9
3) somewhat important	7.2	8.1	5.7
4) not important	2.5	2.5	2.5
5) not at all important	0.1	0.1	0.0
6) no opinion	0.3	0.4	0.0
Possesses Military Experience
1) very important	49.1	47.4	52.2
2) important	37.9	40.5	33.4
3) somewhat important	6.7	5.9	8.2
4) not important	5.1	5.0	5.4
5) not at all important	0.2	0.3	0.1
6) no opinion	0.9	1.0	0.7
Possesses Global Awareness
1) very important	47.8	46.8	49.6
2) important	42.2	43.8	39.4
3) somewhat important	6.9	7.0	6.7
4) not important	2.2	1.4	3.6
5) not at all important	0.1	0.1	0.2
6) no opinion	0.7	0.9	0.4
Able to Achieve Democracy
1) very important	47.2	46.0	49.4
2) important	39.9	41.2	37.4
3) somewhat important	6.8	6.8	6.9
4) not important	4.5	4.7	4.3
5) not at all important	0.2	0.2	0.3
6) no opinion	1.3	1.1	1.7

Active in the National Struggle
1) very important	40.8	36.9	47.9
2) important	39.8	41.4	36.8
3) somewhat important	10.5	12.6	6.7
4) not important	7.6	7.8	7.3
5) not at all important	0.4	0.4	0.3
6) no opinion	0.9	0.9	0.9
22. Will you register for future elections?
1) Yes	65.5	60.9	72.7
2) No	30.9	34.2	25.2
3) Don’t know	3.9	4.9	2.1
23. Do you have information about how to register for Palestinian elections?
1) Yes	30.9	29.4	33.7
2) No	65.0	65.	63.4
3) Don’t know	4.1	4.8	2.9
24. If elections take place, will you vote?
1) Yes	76.9	74.2	81.8
2) No	19.4	21.6	15.5
3) Don’t know	3.7	4.2	2.5
25. If the opposition calls for a boycott, will you honor the boycott?

Annex 1

Date of Publication: August 5, 2003

Section One: Living Conditions

Section Two: The New Government:

Section Three: The Truce

Section Four: Elections