Palestinian poll suggests majority want Abbas to step down

RAMALLAH, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian public opinion poll published Tuesday showed that the majority of the Palestinian public oppose the policy of President Mahmoud Abbas and demand him to step down.

The poll, conducted by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey, suggests that 70 percent of respondents wanted Abbas to resign, while 26 percent wanted him to stay in office.

The percentage of satisfaction with Abbas' performance is 31 percent, with a rate of dissatisfaction reaching 66 percent, said the poll.

If Abbas does not run for the next presidential elections, Marwan Barghouthi, a senior Fatah leader imprisoned in Israeli jail, would be the preferred candidate, who may earn 35 percent among other candidates, the poll said.

Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas political bureau, would earn 22 percent, added the poll, and former Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan would get 7 percent, if all run together.

It added that Haniyeh would receive 53 percent of the votes, while Abbas would receive 41 percent if the two only compete as presidential candidates.

In case of a competition between Barghouthi and Haniyeh, Barghouthi would receive 58 percent, while Haniyeh would get 37 percent of the votes.

The percentage of demands for resignation of president Abbas, according to the poll, reached 64 percent in the West Bank, and 80 percent in the Gaza Strip.

Those figures saw slight increase in the past three months, as the previous poll revealed 60 percent in the West Bank and 80 percent in the Gaza Strip.

The latest poll also said that 51 percent of the respondents will call for the resignation of the consensus government headed by Rami Al-Hamdallah if it does not immediately lift the sanctions on the Gaza Strip.

Around 38 percent support the continuation of the government's presence and performance. Enditem