– poll will attempt to predict outcome of upcoming elections

TURKEYEN Research and Polling Institute (TRPI) has started a political polling survey on Friday, to obtain the public’s view on the upcoming General and Regional elections.
Trinidadian Political Analyst, Dr. Kirk Meighoo, told the media at a Press briefing on Friday, that TRPI is of the belief that there is a political crisis in Guyana. As such, they have made the decision to intervene, to ensure that the views of the people of the country are taken into account by the leaders.

“There is a political crisis in the country stemming from the no-confidence motion, and the government has not dissolved parliament and called elections. So the government has been making its decisions and the opposition has been making its decisions, and as far as I’m aware, there hasn’t been a proper measure of popular opinion on this. Who agrees, who doesn’t, who is satisfied with what is going on, who isn’t satisfied, and the levels to which they are satisfied or not,” Meighoo said.

He noted that this will be a national poll, since surveyors will be spreading across the 10 administrative regions. The surveyors, he said, will ensure that the various groups are represented well.

“We are trying to use a purposeful sampling frame to get person’s rating on the performance of the government, and if elections should be held by September 18, 2019 and so on. It is important in a democracy that the people’s views are taken into account. This is to ensure that popular opinion can be taken into account by decision makers, so they have some gauge to know that whether what they’re doing is of national acceptance. We don’t yet really know what the country as a whole thinks, and this is the only way we can find out. So it really is for better democratic governance,” Meighoo explained.

He said that after the research is complete, a meeting will be held with the government and opposition to give a report on their findings. However, a preliminary report will be presented by Monday.

Sharing brief history on TRPI, Meighoo said that they are a non-partisan, non-political organisation with no relationship with any political outfit. It comprises of academics, journalists, teachers, and professionals, and was founded in 1990 by Professor Dr. Baytoram Ramharack, a Guyanese-born American-trained political scientist and educator who teaches in New York.

“The polling organisation conducted its first opinion poll in Guyana in 1991 and several annual surveys thereafter, all of which were published in the mass media. Findings of its polls and a description of the experience in conducting polls in Guyana were also published in academic journals and books. Polling is a science. It is a methodology used in the social sciences (political science and sociology in particular) to study complex political and social attitudes of a society and the beliefs that people hold on varied subjects including about their political leaders and parties. Such a tool has been increasingly accepted by all democratic nations, though not very widespread used in Guyana,” he shared with the media.

Opinion polls, he further noted, provide a very good database for research purposes. They also inform parties of the views of their supporters or the nation, and they serve as a guide for political parties to choose the best candidates to enhance their prospects at an election.
Outlining specifically what the findings will reflect on Monday, Meighoo said “This opinion poll will also attempt to predict the outcome of the upcoming election and test the support for Khemraj Ramjattan, Moses Nagamootoo, and Irfaan Alli to their respective outfits and whether other potential candidates are greater assets to their parties than chosen ones. The questions in this survey will focus on popular support of varied political figures (potential or prospective presidential and prime ministerial candidates) and parties and on issues impacting on the nation.”

This research will also determine popular support for Presidential contenders and parties.
“The survey will also look at popular support for potential Presidential candidates: Irfaan Alli, Anil Nandlall, Frank Anthony, Vindya Persaud, Gail Texeira, Ralph Ramkarran, Lenox Shuman, among others, matched up against President David Granger. It is somewhat similar to how polls test support for match up against Donald Trump in the US for the 2020 elections. The Guyana poll examines which political figure has the best shot at unseating the incumbent and which forces have a better prospect at government formation. It also looks at whether the country should have a coalition government,” Meighoo said.

The survey will be conducted face-to-face with the people across the regions and will be done by Guyanese surveyors, supervised by Meighoo.