Dear Editor,
A tracking opinion poll conducted by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association last week to determine popular support for the political parties in Guyana’s general elections showed the incumbent PPP/C leading the opposition parties. The polling exercise was concluded before the parties filed nominations and before several major developments relating to the political moves of former PPP stalwart Moses Nagamootoo, Dr Joey Jagan, Peter Ramsaroop, C N Sharma, Valerie Lowe, etc, from one party to another.
The latest Guyana poll was conducted to determine how people plan to vote for the November 28 elections, the approval rating for outgoing President Bharrat Jagdeo, and how people rate the performance of the ministers and the achievement of the ministries during the term of the administration.
The poll randomly interviewed 500 voters to yield a demographically representative sample (45% Indians, 30% Africans, 16% Mixed, 8% Amerindians, and 1% other races) of the voting population. The survey was done in field interviews and was coordinated by Vishnu Bisram. The results of last week’s poll were analyzed at a 95% significance level and a statistical sampling error of plus or minus five percentage points was found. Sampling results based on subgroups (such as Indians, Africans, Mixed, Amerindians) have a larger sampling error.
In terms of popular support, the PPP is polling 48%, followed by APNU 25%, AFC 8%,
JFAP 1%, other parties less than 1%, and 17% undecided or no response. With the election still a month away opinions could change by then.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
