Main Results

·        The DSP presents it newly established, the President’s Performance Index (PPI). The PPI measures how Palestinians perceive the performance of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas – The President of the PNA- as measured against his campaign platform. One hundred days after his election, Mr. Abbas’s PPI is 33 out of 100.

·        The President received his best evaluation in the area of reforming the security agencies (score of 43 out of 100) and the improvement of the situation of women (40%).

·        About one third of the respondents evaluated the performance of the Prime Minister – Ahmad Qurie – as (weak). Another 33% evaluate the performance of his cabinet as (weak).

·        A slight improvement in the evaluation of the current government, in comparison with six months ago.

·        53% believe that the main obstacle in the face of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas’s ability to implement his election platform is (Israeli practices) impeding his success. Another 18% said that the main obstacle is the (corruption that still exit in the PNA institutions).

·        61% expect that the presidential election will lead to resumption of negotiations with Israel; another 60% expect that it will lead to improvement in the performance of the PNA.

·        41% state that their first priority is to end the occupation, and 30% would like to see an improvement in the economic situation as their first priority.

President’s Performance Index (Introduction)

·        The DSP initiated his new quarterly measurement of Palestinian perceptions of how Mr. Mahmoud Abbas is performing. The President’s Performance Index (PPI) measures how far along is Mr. Abbas in fulfilling his campaign promises (as stipulated in his election platform).

·        The PPI is based on 10 indicators that cover the main pillars of Mr. Abbas’s campaign platform in political, social, economic, and security areas.

·        Each indicator is evaluated separately, and then a composite index is derived as the mean score for all 10 indicators.

·        The respondents are asked to evaluate his performance by giving a score from 0 (lowest)-10 (highest). The individual scores and the mean score are then transformed to percentage points.

·        This poll provides the first PPI, one hundred days after the election of Mr. Abbas. In three months time, the DSP will provide the second PPI.

Analysis of the Results

The current evaluation of the performance of Mr. Abbas is contextualized through an examination of four related factors:

·        The priorities of the Palestinian public.

·        The expectations of Palestinians from what a president could do.

·        The obstacles that face his ability to implement his platform.

·        The performance of other PNA institutions such as the Ministerial cabinet.
 

1.      Priorities:

·        The most urgent priority for Palestinians is the achievement of an Israeli withdrawal form Palestinian cities (41%), followed by an improvement in the economic situation (30%) – see Table 1. It is ironic that these two priorities are the least expected to be achieved as illustrated in Table 2.

2.      Expectations

·        61% of the public expect that the presidential election (which took place in January 2005) will lead to the resumption of negotiations with Israel.

·        60% expect that it will lead to improvement in the performance of PNA institutions.

·        Palestinians also expect improvements in the following fields: security, alleviation of suffering on roadblocks, reinforcement of democracy, improvement of economic conditions, and Israeli withdrawal form Palestinian cities (See Table 1).

·        Gaza respondents are more optimistic than West Bank respondents. It is also noticeable that the least expectation form the election is the achievement of an Israeli withdrawal form Palestinian cities.

3.      3.Obstacles facing Mr. Mahmoud Abbas

The implementation of the election program proposed by Mr. Abbas is faced by a number of obstacles (as perceived by the respondents).

·        The most difficult obstacle is the Israeli practices and the continuation of the occupation (as seen by 53% of the respondents).

·        Internal obstacles also exist. 18% felt that the corruption that is an outcome of the preceding governments is an obstacle. 8% of the respondents blamed the leaders of the PLO and Fateh for making it difficult for Abbas to implement his program. Others (7%) believe the actions of the militant groups are an obstacle. For 6%, his personal competence is insufficient. The actions of the opposition groups and their lack of coordination with the PNA are seen as an obstacle by 6%.

4.      Evaluation of the performance of the Ministerial cabinet

·        One third of the respondents evaluate the performance of Mr. Ahmad Qurei – Prime Minister – as (weak).

·        25% of the respondents evaluated the performance of Mr. Qurei as (good), 34% as (fair), and 31% as (weak).

·        The performance of the cabinet is generally perceived as (weak) also.

·        21% evaluated the performance of the cabinet as (good), 37% as (fair), and 33% as (weak).

·        In evaluating specific area of concern, the respondents evaluated the performance of the cabinet negatively.

·        71% feel that the performance of the cabinet is weak in the area of resisting the building of the Separation Wall; 66% feel that it is weak in the area of reducing unemployment; 63% see it as weak in the area of achieving an Israeli withdrawal; 60% see it as weak in the area of controlling illegal guns.

·        With these relatively negative evaluations, a slight improvement was achieved. In almost all areas the poll show in improvement in the evaluation by Palestinians of the cabinet (as compared with the results of a DSP poll published in October 2004 – six months ago). 

5.      President’s Performance Index (First Quarter)

·        The PPI for the first quarter of Abbas’s presidency is (33%) as the mean score for an evaluation of 10 indicators listed in Table (4). The PPI evaluates how close Mr. Abbas is to his election platform (as perceived by the public).

·        In view of each indicator, it is noticed that the evaluation of his performance vary greatly depending on the indicator. Mr. Abbas scored relatively higher in the areas of: improving the performance of the security agencies (43%), improving the situation of women (40%).

·        He scored 37% in the area of promoting more democracy, 35% in the area of improving government services, and 32% in promoting social development and security.

·        His lowest evaluation is in the areas of: improving economic conditions (30%), achieving equality between the regions (28%). The lowest score is in the areas of achieving an Israeli withdrawal (25%).

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