PM Manning takes beating in NACTA poll

A PUBLIC opinion survey recently conducted by the North American  Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) is showing a dip in approval rating for Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his government, as well as widespread opposition to several proposed controversial government policies.  But Opposition Leader, Basdeo Panday, has not been able to capitalize on the rising unpopularity of the PNM government, and he has also seen a continued drop in his approval rating, suggesting he may not be successful at establishing an alternative government. 

The survey is also showing that voters are still sharply divided along race or party lines on almost every issue. The latest poll was conducted in April to find out opinion on a wide range of issues impacting on the nation as well as to determine popular support for the political parties in the upcoming local government elections. NACTA interviewed 402 registered voters in Trinidad to yield a demographically representative sample of the population. Voters were polled randomly to make the sample as representative as possible of varied age, class, occupational and religious categories as well as of ethnicity and educational levels in the population.  The survey was coordinated by Vishnu Bisram, a political scientist, pollster and columnist in New York.

According to the findings of the latest survey, Manning’s approval rating as Prime Minister is down two percent since January to 34 percent and his disapproval rating has climbed one percent to 42 percent for the corresponding to produce a negative rating of eight percent.  His government’s approval rating has taken a severe beating dropping to 31 percent (down three percent since January) and its disapproval rating has climbed by two percent to 47 percent to produce an overall negative rating of 16 percent which is twice that of the Prime Minister suggesting that Manning is more popular than his government. Manning and his government receive their favourable rating almost exclusively from among party supporters while Indians overwhelmingly rate the performance of Manning and his government as unfavourable.

Panday’s approval rating has also declined to an all time low of 26 percent while his disapproval rating is at an all time high of 51 percent.  Even traditional UNC supporters are disenchanted with Panday’s performance as Opposition Leader;  many say Panday has not shown the vigor and dynamism of  yesteryear to challenge the PNM and that he is not leading a strong and credible organisation to unseat the PNM from office. Very few Africans and other ethnic groups view Panday in a positive light. Manning’s approval rating has taken a beating primarily because of a number of unpopular moves and policy proposals. On the government’s proposal to move Parliament, only 23 percent, mostly PNMites, support the proposed move while a large majority of 58 percent (including almost all UNC supporters and nearly half the African population) oppose the shifting of parliament.  Also, almost half of the population  oppose the proposed political integration with St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  Only 24 percent expressed support for such a union. To boost his own popularity and the image of his government, respondents suggest that Manning reconsider these policy proposals.