AN opinion survey conducted by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) in early May found a majority of voters opposed to the budget cuts passed by the combined opposition.   The poll also found that a majority of voters do not approve of a snap election to address the parliamentary impasse of the opposition majority stymieing government initiated bills.
The findings show that another election may not produce a significantly different outcome from what currently obtains in the National Assembly.  
The poll also found that Irfaan Ali of Housing is rated as the best “performing minister,” closely followed by Education Minister Priya Manickchand, Attorney-General Anil Nandlall, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh, Environment Minister Robert Persaud and Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.
For the best debater in the recently concluded budget debate, Dr. Ashni Singh leads on the government side, with Carl Greenidge taking the honours on the opposition side. A majority of voters are also not supportive of the South African government granting an award to the late Forbes Burnham.
These and other findings were obtained in the poll that queried voters’ views on a number of current issues.
The poll randomly interviewed 600 voters to yield a demographically representative sample (44 per cent Indians, 30 per cent Africans, 16 per cent mixed, nine per cent Amerindians, and 1 per cent other races) of the population.
The poll was conducted by interviewers with many years of experience in survey interviewing and was coordinated by Vishnu Bisram, a pollster, newspaper columnist, and an educator in NY.
The results of the poll were analyzed at a 95 per cent significance level, and a statistical sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points was found.
Sampling results based on subgroups (such as Indians or Africans) have a larger sampling error of about 5 per cent.
Asked if they approve of the opposition cuts to the proposed government budget, 61 per cent said no, with 30 per cent saying yes and the others not offering a response.
Surprisingly, a significant percentage of APNU and AFC supporters (21 per cent combined) are disappointed with the combined opposition over the budget cuts, that they say will affect the economy, but most remain supportive of both opposition parties.
Some expressed concern that their electricity rates would go up, while others are worried that the cuts could result in loss of State jobs.
Asked if they think the government should call a snap election to address its minority status in parliament, a whopping 62 per cent said no, including half of the PPP supporters and significant numbers of AFC and APNU followers, many of whom say another election may not yield a different outcome.
People want the parties to work together for the national development of the country instead of engaging in continuous bickering.
Just about 26 per cent feel the government should return to the polls, with 12 per cent offering no response.