The vast majority of Egyptians thinks that religious leaders should have an advisory role on state policy, but nothing more.
The poll, conducted by the Gallup organizations’ Middle East affiliate based in Abu Dhabi, asked what role religious leaders should have in writing national legislation. More than two-thirds or 69 percent said religious leaders should have an advisory role. A total of 14 percent said they should have full authority, while 9 percent said they should have no authority whatsoever. The remaining 8 percent had no opinion.
When specifically asked about Iran as a role model for government, only 1 percent saw Iran as a model worth copying.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the most prominent Islamist political party in Egypt, drew more support in the poll than any other political party. However, no political party drew much support. Asked about the four main parties, 15 percent of respondents supported the Muslim Brotherhood, 10 percent the National Democratic Party of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, 9 percent the secularist Wafd Party that dates back to the 1920s and 5 percent the Wassat party.
While Iran is not viewed favorably, the United States is also viewed with distrust. About two-thirds of Egyptians think the Americans are not serious about encouraging democratic government in the Middle East and an equal number believe the United States will try to dictate Egypt’s future rather than allow the Egyptian people to forge their future for themselves.
In a surprising result of the poll, most of the Egyptians surveyed said they got most of their news about the 18 days of protests that toppled their government from state television. Some 81 percent said that was a main source of news about what was happening, while 63 percent said Al-Jazeera was a main source, indicating many watched both and presumably compared what they were told. But only 8 percent said Facebook or Twitter were a major source. Of course, 8 percent is still a large number to be accessing new media.
A second poll, which was organized by the US-based International Republican Institute, found that economic issues dominated the concerns of Egyptians.
It reported that most Egyptians supported this year’s revolution not out of a desire for either democracy or a religiously based government but because they felt the economy had been badly managed by the Mubarak government. Nearly two-thirds said they supported the revolution because of low living standards and a lack of jobs, while only 19 percent said they backed the revolution because of the absence of democracy in Egypt.
This poll found that two-thirds of the respondents wanted the new Egypt to be closer to the United States than to Iran.