Imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is expected to get the largest number of votes if he runs for president, Director of the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, Khalil Shikaki, said yesterday.
Speaking about the latest survey conducted by his center, Shikaki said that 78 percent of eligible Palestinians are expected to vote in the upcoming general election.
Palestine’s impossible democracy dilemma https://t.co/BCn2NyIcSH
— Joe Catron 🇵🇸 #FreePalestinianStudents (@jncatron) March 9, 2021
If Barghouti led an independent electoral list, and Fatah and Hamas each had their separate lists, 79 percent of the Palestinians would participate in the parliamentary elections, the poll found.
He said that 27 percent of the voters would give their votes to Hamas’ list, 24 percent to Fatah, 20 percent to Barghouti, and seven percent to ousted Fatah member Mohammad Dahlan’s list.
Shikaki said that the survey asked participants to choose their preferred presidential candidate and 22 percent said Marwan Barghouti, 14 percent chose Ismail Haniyeh, nine percent said current President Mahmoud Abbas would receive their vote and seven percent said Dahlan.
Public opinion polls have regularly shown that Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti would win presidential elections, whether he runs within Fatah or with a new party https://t.co/qECnDzvaOr
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 28, 2021
He stressed that Barghouti would win presidential elections unless both Fatah and Hamas stand together against him.
In January, Abbas announced that the 2021 general elections will include the legislative elections on May 22, the presidential elections on July 31, and the elections of the Palestinian National Council, the highest decision-making body of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, on August 31.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
