Barghouthi, 1st favorite of presidential poll

A poll has found that Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life terms in Israeli prison, would defeat any other candidate in a Palestinian presidential electon.

The poll was conducted by Alpha International, an organization and published Tuesday.

Among the other potential candidates the poll mentions are Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashaal, political activist Mustafa Barghouti, former PA prime minister Salam Fayyad and Fatah’s Muhammad Shtayyeh.

The survey, conducted between July 31 and August 3, covered some 500 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip and has a margin of error of 5 percent.

Meanwhile, only 20% said presidential and legislative elections should take place only in the West Bank.

The poll also showed that 45% of respondents were opposed to Fayyad’s return to power.