Polls Apart

Two clashing polls try to probe that elusive “Christian public opinion” in Metn.

First came the poll conducted by IPSOSTAT, a respectable polling organization, which concluded after calling a sample of 1000 metnis, that 60% of the voters would like to fill the position vacated by the death of MP Pierre Gemayel by another Kataeb member like his father Amine for instance, with only 32% giving their votes to Aoun’s FPM.

The results didn’t offend the Aounists. After all, many FPM supporters were courteous enough to give the seat back to the Gemayels after having their heir viciously murdered. Ghassan Tweini had started a precedent by consensually “inheriting” his murdered son’s seat.

The problems only started later when March14 media started using the findings to insinuate that the FPM is losing popular support among Christians. Witness how, for instance, an LF blogger jumped at the IPSOSTAT findings.

This is where the FPM decided to reclaim its crown as the most popular party with the Christians by commissioning its own Poll. The poll, conducted by Feghali Polling, had a different wording than that of IPSOSTAT: “Which party is closest to you and represents you best politically today?”

The results are proudly posted on the Tayyar’s main page: The Aounists and their allies got 67.9%, while the Kataeb and their allies got 25.7%