Three Cabinet ministers, the Cabinet secretary and a former police chief were among the six men named last Wednesday as masterminds of the post-election violence.

Analysts say ICC trials may destabilize the east African country’s fragile coalition, formed by President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to end bloodshed that followed the disputed presidential vote of December 2007.

A poll by Synovate showed that 41 percent of the 2,011 people surveyed across the east African country were either certain or felt it was highly likely that the named suspects would be prosecuted and convicted.

Thirty-two percent thought it was possible that the men would be convicted, while 17 percent believed it was very unlikely, the survey showed.

The poll was held before Kenya’s Parliament passed a motion urging Kenya to withdraw from the Rome statute that established the ICC in a bid to block trials of the six suspects.

More then 1,220 people died and 350,000 were displaced in the mayhem that followed the presidential election and damaged Kenya’s reputation for stability in a volatile region.

The most prominent names on the ICC prosecutor’s list were those of Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya’s founding father Jomo Kenyatta, and William Ruto, the suspended higher education minister. Ruto has been suspended to fight a corruption case.

The Synovate poll showed the approval rating of the coalition had shot up to 65 percent from 34 percent in March this year, mainly for its renewed fight against corruption that has seen several ministers and top officials quit.

Another poll published on Dec. 18 found that 82 percent of Kenyans want public officials among the six suspects to quit or get sacked.