An opinion survey published in the West Bank Thursday showed that the Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, could win 40 percent of the votes in the upcoming Palestinian elections scheduled for January 25.
According to the poll conducted by the Palestinian Research Institute, 40 percent of a randomly chosen sample of 2500 West Bank residents said they would vote for Hamas. Only 20 percent said they would vote for Fatah.
Hamas' popularity has grown in the last few weeks after the movement swept the municipal elections which took place recently in some of the largest towns in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, PA President Mahmoud Abbas was quoted as saying on Thursday that the PA would have to re-examine holding the elections in the occupied territories in light of the Israeli decision to prevent East Jerusalemites from casting their votes. This is considered by many as a pretex by Abbas to delay the election as it is projected that his Fatah party is heading for defeat by Hamas.
