Challenging Times Ahead for PP Government: NACTA poll

The Peoples Partnership Government faces a challenging time in the
remainder of its term in office as people express disappointment with
the government to meet their other expectations. 

That's the finding of a poll conducted by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association over the last several days. NACTA interviewed 490 people

reflecting the demographics of the population. The poll, coordinated by Vishnu Bisram, has a four per cent margin of error.

One of the issues the poll checked was the no confidence motion in the government debated last week in Parliament.

NACTA asked respondents if they supported the latest No Confidence Motion based on email allegations against the Prime Minister. A clear majority of 51 per cent said NO with 31 per cent supporting the motion. 

The other question was whether respondents believe the allegations. Only 26 per cent said YES. 49 per cent did not and 25 per cent were not sure. NACTA said Government supporters said the email episode is a hoax while opposition supporters said they have credibility. 

With respect to the PM's handling of the matter, NACTA said 53 per cent of those polled said they approved of the way she handled it by immediately referring it to the police for an investigation.

NACTA also asked about the government's performance. A majority of 52 per cent said they don't approve of the Government's performance while 29 per cent said they approve. 

However when asked about the PM's personal performance the approval figure went up to 45 per cent with a disapproval rating of 38 per cent. The PM got high marks for holding the PP coalition together and for addressing mistakes her government made.

NACTA also asked if Jack Warner should be allowed to contest the Chaguanas West Seat as a UNC candidate. Supporters of UNC overwhelmingly backed Warner for the seat; 45 per cent of respondents said yes and 38 didn't think he should get the nod.

How do the ministers fare? This is what NACTA found:

1. Vasanth Bharath (Trade 21%)
2. Fazal Karim (Tertiary Education 17%)
3. Dr. Glenn Ramadharsingh (Peoples 15%)
4. Dr. Roodal Moonilal (Housing 13%)
5. Dr. Suruj Rambachan (Local Government 5%)
6. Dr. Fuad Khan (Health 4%)
7. Dr. Tim Gopeesingh (Education 4%)

The government Achilles heel apprears to be crime. NACTA said 78 per cent of respondents said they don't have confidence in the government’s handling of  crime, which is rated as the number one problem by 71 per cent of the respondents.