PPP Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali and President David Granger
By News Source Guyana on June 12, 2019
A political opinion poll conducted by the Barbados based Caribbean Development Research Services Inc. (CADRES) has found that President David Granger continues to enjoy high approval ratings among supporters of the coalition and generally across the country.
The poll was commissioned by the APNU+AFC Coalition.
News Source has obtained a copy of the full report on the opinion poll from a senior source in the APNU+AFC coalition.
The poll was conducted in February this year and 1,080 persons were questioned in the ten administrative regions of Guyana.
According to the findings of the poll with regard to leadership, President David Granger enjoys a 94% approval rating among APNU+AFC supporters and a 50% overall approval rating when supporters of the PPP/Civic and Uncertain voters are added.
While the President enjoys good approval nationally and from the coalition supporters, just 14% of persons who identified themselves as supporters of the opposition PPP Civic, approved of his leadership. 40% of uncertain voters said they approved of the President.
In terms of disapproval, just 2% of coalition supporters disapproved of his leadership, while 76% of PPP Civic supporters disapproved. Undecided voters who disapprove of Mr. Granger’s leadership as President stands at 34% while overall his disapproval rating stands at 36%.
The pollster noted that respondents were asked if they approved or disapproved of President Granger and it should be noted “that in this regard respondents could say yes or no regardless of their political persuasion since it is possible for a person to Approve of President Granger’s leadership and still support the PPP/Civic”.
The poll also examined Leadership of Guyana in relation to the country’s new wealth in the oil and gas sector.
The poll found that 40% of persons polled prefer President Granger to handle Guyana’s new wealth compared to 24% for Irfaan Ali, who is the Presidential Candidate for the PPP Civic.
Among uncertain voters, 23% said they wanted President Granger to handle Guyana’s new wealth compared to 13% for Irfaan Ali.
Along party lines, 94% of coalition supporters told the pollster that they wanted President Granger to handle the oil wealth, while for the Opposition PPP Civic, 76% of its supporters said they wanted the party’s Presidential Candidate to handle the oil wealth.
Respondents were also asked about the attributes they liked the most about President David Granger and the PPP’s Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali.
In terms of competence, Granger does better than Ali 12% to 6%. The President also does better compared to Ali when it comes to being pleasant by a margin of 13% to 3%.
In terms of morality and spirituality, President Granger again leads Irfaan Ali by 5% to 1%, while in the area of being genuine and trustworthy, the President again leads Irfaan Ali by a margin of 11% to 5%.
The President also leads Mr. Ali by 12% to 5% in the area of Good Development ideas and in terms of being politically savy, the President again leads Ali by a margin of 4% to 2%.
The PPP Civic Presidential Candidate leads the incumbent in two areas. In the area of being experienced, fresh and new, Ali leads Granger 13% to 5% and in terms of maturity and youth, Ali leads 13% to 6%.
The CADRES poll found that the President remains an asset to the APNU+AFC Coalition as he continues to enjoy support from supporters of the parties in the coalition and also enjoys good support from uncertain voters.
In the summary of the poll, CADRES found that the perception that President Granger is weak (physically and politically) is contradicted “by the approval rating that is superior to that of his competitor (Ali).”
According to CADRES, while President Granger is more popular, there is clearly an opportunity for his approach to be molded in a way that minimises the main concern raised about him taking too long to make decisions.
The Poll also covers several other areas including who would be the best running mate for the President as it also examines many issues facing Guyanese.
In the coming days, News Source will offer more insight into the poll.
The organisation which conducted the poll, CADRES, is a political research organisation that has been conducting political and opinion polls across the region for over two decades.
