GEORGETOWN – A coalition of opposition parties could topple the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) if an election is held now in Guyana, according to a poll released by the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES).
However, the poll shows that the ruling party remains the most popular political organisation in the country ahead of the main opposition Peoples National Congress/Reform (PNCR) and the Alliance for Change (AFC).
The poll, which was conducted in March, shows that respondents who were asked which party they would support if an election were held at the time, gave the PPP/Civic 25 per cent, the PNCR 23 per cent and the AFC 25 per cent, while those who did know or will not say averaged 24 per cent.
The pollsters questioned 1 000 people in all ten administrative regions of Guyana, and the poll has a plus or minus five per cent margin of error.
“It is clear from this raw data that the “Don’t Know/Won’t Say” category is large and while this is not unusual this far away from an election, the size of this category is sufficiently large to alter the course of the election and therefore more needs to be said about these voters.
“Over the years, CADRES has developed a method of predicting the way that these voters will behave that relies on historical trends and this has been proven to be a most reliable indicator. This approach projects PPP/Civic support at 38 per cent; PNCR support at 31 per cent and AFC support at 26 per cent,” CADRES said.
In an interview with the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), CADRES pollster Peter Wickham said that based on all indications at this time only a coalition of opposition forces could topple the ruling PPP/C.
“I am seeing a situation where AFC made substantial improvements, but at the same time the party that seems to be upfront regarding popular support would be the current government which is the PPP/C.
“My assumption is a coalition of opposition forces has the capacity to change the political order, but I don’t think at this stage any other organisation other than the PPP/C can claim to have majority,” Wickham said. (CMC)
