• Field Research: January 28-30, 2004
• Date of Publication: February 18, 2004
• Sample Size: 1200 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza
• Number of Sampling Localities: 75
• Margin of Error: ± 3%

• For questions or inquiries, please contact Dr. Nader Said or Ayman Abdulmajeed at the listed numbers.
• DSP opinion polls are supervised by an independent Palestinian team of academic experts (see our website).
• All results represent the opinions of the respondents and do not represent the viewpoint of Birzeit University or the Development Studies Programme or any other related body.
• For details on our methodology, refer to our web page.
• Many thanks go to the field researchers, and to the International Republican Institute (IRI) for their support.

Headlines:

• Deterioration of living conditions in the Palestinian territories continues: the monthly income of 78% of surveyed Palestinian households is less than USD 385 (a daily average of USD 1.9 per capita in a household of 6.7 persons)
• 67% support stopping attacks against Israeli civilian targets provided that Israel ends violence against Palestinians.
• Less than a quarter of the respondents (23%) consider the performance of Ahmad Qurei's government as (good), whereas 30% consider it as (fair) and 33% consider it as (weak).
• A majority is willing to participate in the proposed elections (75% for presidential elections, 72% for municipal elections, and 66% for legislative).
• Considerable lack in information on the Elections Law and mechanisms of registration.
• A majority (54%) do not follow up on news concerning elections.
• 57% of the surveyed believe that Yasser Arafat is the most qualified person for the leadership of the Palestinian people and that he may be nominated for the position of PNA presidency.
• A minority (17%) will re-elect the present members in the Palestinian Legislative Council and 19% will re-elect the present members in the municipalities.
• The majority of respondents (70%) reported that they will vote for competent nominees regardless of ideology and factional affiliations.
• Honesty - transparency is the most important characteristic sought in a candidate (97%).
• 35% of the surveyed prefer a (mixed system) for the proposed Legislative Council elections, 32% prefer a (simple majority) system and 20% support a (proportional representation) system.
• The majority (61%) prefer a presidential governance system over a parliamentary system (39%).
• Decline in willingness to vote for women candidates; instead a majority (65%) prefers allocating quota for women in the Legislative and Local Councils.
• 38% of the surveyed declared that they will elect a Fatah - led bloc, while 21% will vote for a Hamas - led bloc in case of elections.