…challenges President to “call the elections if you are so popular”
Opposition Leader Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has dismissed a recent opinion poll showing that President David Granger has a high 94% approval ratings among party supporters.
Jagdeo called the Coalition-sponsored poll “fake”, noting that APNU/AFC Government should call elections if they are so confident. The Opposition Leader made this comment at this weekly press conference on Thursday, where he claimed that the poll was conducted by the Coalition Government out of desperation.
According to Jagdeo, the release of the poll only highlights the desperation of the Coalition Government.
“This so called high approval ratings for President Granger may come from people who might vote for the PPP/Civic and I suspect that the polls will not only speak about President Granger’s approval”, he said.
The Poll, which showed high approval ratings for President David Granger and low ratings for the PPP Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali, was described by Jagdeo as nothing more than a “fake poll”.
“If you believe you are so popular then call elections”, Mr. Jagdeo insisted.
The poll, conducted by the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Research Services Inc., was done in February and included some 1000 Guyanese from all 10 administrative regions.
Among the findings were that President Granger enjoys a 94% approval rating among Coalition supporters for his leadership, and a 50% overall approval rating when supporters of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and ‘uncertain voters’ are added.
It revealed too that some 40% of uncertain voters said they approved of the President’s performance as Head of State.
The Opposition Leader said he would be more concerned about what the poll has to say about who wins the election rather than the personality of the candidates.
Meanwhile, Jagdeo said a poll done for his party shows the PPP/Civic getting a “massive” victory at the next elections. However, Mr. Jagdeo said he would not release the PPP’s poll to the public as the party is using it for its own political work.
