Introduction
The results of the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre
public opinion poll were negative for a majority of the Palestinian people
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with respect to the newly Cabinet, and
were pessimistic about the performance of the Authority. Only 20.3% of
those polled said that the Cabinet change made them more optimistic about
the future performance of the Palestinian Authority (PA), in comparison
to 33.6% who expressed pessimism about the future performance of the PA,
and 40.2% said that there wan not change in their optimism or pessimism
as a result of his change.
A majority of those polled did not support a vote of confidence
in the new Cabinet by the Legislative Council, only 31.4% said that the
Legislative Council should give a vote of confidence in the new Cabinet,
while 38.6% said that the Legislative Council must give the new Cabinet
a non-confidence vote, 27% did not know, and 3% did not answer the question.
This change did not bring any change in the confidence
of the public in President Arafat, with 23.8% of those polled said that
the Cabinet change increased their confidence in President Arafat, 23.3%
said that the Cabinet change decreased their confidence in President Arafat,
while the majority 48.4% said that the Cabinet change did not affect their
confidence in President Arafat.
With majority of 77.5% believing that there is corruption
in the PA, only 23.4% of respondents said that the latest Cabinet change
will help deal with the problem of corruption in the PA, while 33.4% said
that this Cabinet change will increase the problem of corruption in the
PA, and 37.9% said that this will not have any change in corruption in
the PA.
With repect to the resignations of two of the ministers
as a result of the Cabinet change, 32.1% of those polled supported the
resignations and 26.5% opposed the resignations, while 22.3% of respondents
did not know there any resignations, 14.7% had no opinions, and 4.4% did
not respond to the question.
Methodology
A random sample of 1,204 Palestinians, over the age of
18 years, were interviewed throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip on 8
August 1998. The interviews were conducted on face to face basis on busy
street corners in the main towns
In the West Bank, 765 people were surveyed
from the following areas: Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalailia, Bethlehem, Hebron,
Jerusalem, Ramallah, al-Bireh.
In the Gaza Strip, 439 people were surveyed
from: Gaza City, Rafah, Maghazi, al-Bureij, Beit Hanoun, Nusseirat,
Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, Jabalia, Beit Lahia.
The margin of error is 3 percent, with a confidence level
of 95.
Sample Distribution
-
54.8% of the respondents were from the West Bank
-
36.1% from the Gaza Strip
-
9.1% from Jerusalem
-
28.3% said they live in villages
-
42.2% in refugee camps
-
42.2% in towns/cities
-
56.3% were male
-
43.7% were female
-
(The interviewers reported that a large number of women declined
to be interviewed, particularly in Gaza Strip)
-
The average of age of the respondents was 33.6 years.
Occupation respondents
Students 13.9%
Waged labourers 14.6%
Housewives 21.4%
Employees eg. secretaries/teachers/nurses/municipal employees
19.9%
Businessmen/private business 11.8%
Farmers/fishermen 3.4%
Craftsmen 2.5%
Professionals - eg. doctors/lawyers/pharmacists/engineers
3.7%
Unemployed 5.6%
Retired 2.4%
No answer 0.8%
Results
Q.1 How knowledgeable are you in the cabinet reshuffle?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Very knowledgeable |
19.4%
|
16.5%
|
24.4%
|
| Somewhat knowledgeable |
59.5%
|
60.8%
|
57.2%
|
| No knowledge at all |
19.6%
|
21.3%
|
16.6%
|
| No answer |
1.5%
|
1.4%
|
1.8%
|
Q.2 Waht do you think abou the new cabinet reshuffle;
did it make you more optimistic or more pessimistic, abou the perforemance
of the PA?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip |
| More optimistic |
20.3%
|
19.7%
|
21.2%
|
| More pessimistic |
33.6%
|
33.9%
|
33.3%
|
| Did not change my opinion |
40.2%
|
40.4%
|
39.9%
|
| No answer |
5.9%
|
6.0%
|
5.6%
|
Q.3 Do you think the Palestinian Legislative Council must
grant or deny the new cabinet reshuffle a vote of confidence?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Must grant a vote of confidence |
31.4%
|
28.1%
|
37.1%
|
| Deny the vote of confidence |
38.6%
|
37.8%
|
40.1%
|
| I do not know |
27.0%
|
31.1%
|
19.8%
|
| No answer |
3.0%
|
3.0%
|
3.0%
|
Q. 4 Did the new cabinet reshuffle increase or decrease
your support to President Arafat, or did it make no change?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Increased my support |
23.8%
|
22.2%
|
26.7%
|
| decreased my supoort |
23.3%
|
23.4%
|
23.0%
|
| Did not make any change in my position |
48.4%
|
49.8%
|
46.0%
|
| No answer |
4.5%
|
4.6%
|
4.3%
|
Q.5 Who is the current head of the Labor Party?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Yes |
77.5%
|
73.7%
|
84.1%
|
| No |
20.7%
|
24.7%
|
13.7%
|
| No answer |
1.8%
|
1.6%
|
2.2%
|
Q.6 Do you believe that the recent cabinet reshuffle will
lead to an increase in corruption or deal with the corruption problem or
it won't make any change?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Will increase corruption |
33.4%
|
38.1%
|
26.3%
|
| Will deal with the corruption problem |
23.4%
|
24.3%
|
22.0%
|
| Will not make any change regarding the corruption problem |
37.9%
|
33.0%
|
45.5%
|
| No answer |
15.3%
|
4.6%
|
6.2%
|
Q. 7 Do you support or oppose the follwoing expressions:
Total
|
Support
|
Oppose
|
No answer
|
| The cabinet reshuffle will result in reducing criticism
of the Executive Authority by the PLC |
41.4%
|
46.5%
|
12.1%
|
| The cabinet reshuffle increased the number of ministers,
so the PA performance will be better |
34.6%
|
56.8%
|
8.6%
|
| The cabinet reshuffle will make President Arafat head
a more successful Cabinet |
45.1%
|
44.6%
|
10.3%
|
| Increasing the number of ministers from Fateh will strengthen
the PA |
47.8%
|
42.4%
|
9.8%
|
| The Cabinet reshuffle will strengthen Palestinian national
unity |
44.9%
|
44.5%
|
10.6%
|
West Bank
|
Support
|
Oppose
|
No answer
|
| The cabinet reshuffle will result in reducing criticism
of the Executive Authority by the PLC |
41.0%
|
47.6%
|
11.4%
|
| The cabinet reshuffle increased the number of ministers,
so the PA performance will be better |
32.2%
|
58.3%
|
9.5%
|
| The cabinet reshuffle will make President Arafat head
a more successful Cabinet |
44.2%
|
45.0%
|
10.8%
|
| Increasing the number of ministers from Fateh will strengthen
the PA |
47.5%
|
42.6%
|
9.9%
|
| The Cabinet reshuffle will strengthen Palestinian national
unity |
49.0%
|
41.4%
|
9.6%
|
Gaza Strip
|
Support
|
Oppose
|
No answer
|
| The cabinet reshuffle will result in reducing criticism
of the Executive Authority by the PLC |
41.9%
|
44.6%
|
13.5%
|
| The cabinet reshuffle increased the number of ministers,
so the PA performance will be better |
38.7%
|
54.2%
|
7.1%
|
| The cabinet reshuffle will make President Arafat head
a more successful Cabinet |
4.7%
|
44.0%
|
93%
|
| Increasing the number of ministers from Fateh will strengthen
the PA |
48.3%
|
42.1%
|
9.6%
|
| The Cabinet reshuffle will strengthen Palestinian national
unity |
37.6%
|
49.9%
|
12.5%
|
Q. 8 Do you support or oppose the resignation submitted
by two of the ministers in the recent cabinet reshuffle?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| I support |
32.1%
|
29.5%
|
36.7%
|
| I oppose |
26.5%
|
25.6%
|
28.0%
|
| I do not know about the resignations |
22.3%
|
22.4%
|
22.1%
|
| I have no opinion |
14.7%
|
17.1%
|
10.5%
|
| No answer |
4.4%
|
5.4%
|
2.7%
|
