Around 47% of Egyptians believe that Tiran and Sanafir Islands are Egyptians and 11% consider them Saudi and 42% don’t know
47% of the Egyptians confirmed that they would not agree to hand over the two islands to Saudi Arabia after the decision of the parliament, while 35% will agree to hand over them.
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Public opinion has witnessed a wide debate in recent days over the issue of Tiran and Sanafir after the parliament's decision to vote on the two islands' subordination to Egypt or Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research (baseera) considered the necessity of conducting a public opinion poll on a representative sample of Egyptians to provide the public and decision-makers with recent information on the pulse of the Egyptian street.
The poll showed that 47% of Egyptians believe that these two Islands are Egyptians and 11% consider them Saudi, While 42% were not able to decide whether the two islands are Egyptians or Saudi. These results reveal a significance change if compared to the results of the same question from April 2016 poll, as in April 2016 around 30% of Egyptians believed that these two Islands are Egyptians and 23% considered them Saudi, While 31% were not able to decide whether the two islands are Egyptians or Saudi and 16% said that they didn’t hear about the islands deal.
Despite the fact that 60% of Egyptians agree that the parliament discusses the deal of the two islands, by asking whether they would agree to hand over the two islands to Saudi Arabia if the parliament decided they would follow Saudi Arabia, 35% would agree to hand over them (10% very agree and 25% agree) While 47% said they would not agree (22% disagree and 25% disagree), while 19% could not decide.
Around 36% of Egyptians believe that if the parliament decides to transfer the subordination of the two islands to Saudi Arabia, it will not affect the relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while 16% believe that this will have a positive impact on the relations between the two countries and 26% believe it will have a negative impact. The rest said they don’t know.
In contrast, 41% of Egyptians believe that if the parliament decides that the two islands are Egyptian, it will not affect the relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while 11% believe that this will have a positive impact on the relations between the two countries and 24% believe it will have a negative impact. The rest said they don’t know.
In a related context, 42% of Egyptians believe that it is necessary to referendum the people on the deal of the 2 islands, while 37% see only the decision of the parliament is enough and 3% see only the decision of the judiciary is enough, while 16% said they do not know, and the remaining percentages are distributed on many opinions, each of them got Less than 1%.
The analysis of the survey results by age, educational level of respondents and place of residence is available on baseera information bank http://www.baseeraibank.com
Methodology of the survey: Pursuant to the principle of transparency and commitment to the ethics of surveys publication the center disclose the methodology of the survey as follows: The poll was conducted by on landline phones and mobile phones on a probability sample of 1164 citizens in the age group 18 years. The sample covered all governorates of the Republic and the interviews were conducted between June 11 to 12, 2017. The response rate was about 47% and the margin of error in the results for was less than 3%. The survey was self-funded by Baseera Center. More details about the methodology, results, and the graphic presentation of the results can be found of the website www.baseera.com.eg
Methodology: The poll was conducted using both mobile phones and landlines on a sample of 1541citizens aged 18 years old and above, and covering all governorates. All phone interviews were conducted from 18 to 20 April, 2016. The response rate was around 46%, and the margin of error in the results is less than 3%. The poll was self-funded by Baseera as a part of its social responsibility activities. For more information on the detailed findings and the methodology adopted, or to see the graphic presentation of results, please visit our website: www.baseera.com.eg
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