Manning on the way out; approval rating 16%: Poll

A major opinion poll done for the Sunday Express suggested that Prime Minister Patrick Manning is on the way out, with only 16 per cent of those surveyed saying they approve of his performance.

A whopping 80 per cent said they believe Manning is not fit to govern and 72 per cent think he should leave politics when his current term ends.

The poll suggests that Keith Rowley has a runaway lead on Manning if the two are place in a one-on-one battle with 41 per cent support for Rowley and only 17 per cent for Manning.

When put in a national race with other prominent political leaders Rowley still leads with 20 per cent, with Manning down to 14 per cent.

The survey also suggests that citizens are very worried that the Government is squandering public money with 76 per cent saying they believe the government is squandering public funds.

And a majority say they are worse off today than before the Manning government won reelection in October 2007.

The poll presents an interesting view of the nation's politics by party status.

The PNM is still ahead of the rest with 23 per cent support. However if there is a combined opposition with a leader other than Basdeo Panday it would be at 29 per cent - six percentage points ahead of the PNM.

Howver, if the opposition remains segregated by party the UNC would only have six per cent support with 14 per cent for COP. But a full 27 per cent remain unsure of how they would vote if a general election were held right away.

The findings reflect a very fluid political situation and a confused electorate.

Corruption and the perception of corruption was one of the critical issues raised in the poll.

The findings suggest that 58 per cent of respondents felt that the UNC was "very corrupt" during its six years in office from 1995 to 2001 and 29 per cent felt the party was not "particularly corrupt."

But at the same time people appeared to be disappointed with the PNM's promise of transparency and accountability and felt that the Manning PNM has become as corrupt as the PNM during its unbroken 30-year rule from 1956-1986.

One in every three persons surveyed said the PNM is even more corrupt than the UNC and 37 per cent said it was just as corrupt. The result is that an overwhelming majority of 70 per cent of respondents were convinced that the Manning PNM is corrupt.

Only five per cent believed the propaganda that the PNM is honest and deals with corruption effectively.

And ethnic partisanship appeared to be diminished when it comes to corruption with both major groups seeing the PNM as very corrupt: 92 per cent of Indo-Trinidadians characterise the PNM as corrupt compared to 83 per cent of the Afro-Trinidadians.

For full details of the poll go to the SUNDAY EXPRESS