Mahmoud Abbas (right) and Ismail Haniyeh (agencies)
An opinion poll showed that the head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, will receive 70% of the votes if he runs against the current Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who will receive only 22% of the votes.
The poll was conducted by the Palestinian Center for Survey Studies on March 5, and 1,580 people participated, including 830 in the occupied West Bank and the rest in the Gaza Strip.
The poll stated that 84% want Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resign, and 65% see the Palestinian Authority as a burden on the people.
But the results of the poll change when the imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti participates in the presidential election, as the poll shows him ahead of both Abbas and Haniyeh if the three run for the presidency.
If only Barghouti and Haniyeh participated in the election, the former would lead the latter with 60%.
In a related context, the poll showed great support for Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, as the results show that three-quarters of Palestinians believe that the attack has put the Palestinian issue in the focus of attention, and ended years of its neglect at the regional and international levels.
Source: Al Jazeera