Poll: 47% of Jamaicans believe country heading in wrong direction

 

Nearly 50 per cent of Jamaicans featured in an island-wide survey believe the country is heading in the wrong direction.

 

This is according to the latest RJRGLEANER Don Anderson poll conducted between January and February this year.

 

The poll canvassed responses from 1,201 Jamaicans aged 18 years and older registered to vote across all parishes.

 

It has a margin of error of ±3 percentage points at the 95 per cent confidence level. 

 

When asked how they viewed the state of the country and in which direction they believed the country is heading, 47 per cent of respondents said "the wrong direction".

 

Only 29 per cent believed the country was on the right trajectory and the remaining 24 per cent said they were not sure.

 

"There are very few studies that we have done that [don't] show the majority of the people thinking that the country is going in the wrong direction. This is a little bit of a departure from previous studies. As indicated, when we did it in September, 58 per cent of the persons we interviewed said the country was going in the wrong direction, which is consistent with how the pattern has been," explained Don Anderson, head of Market Research Services.  

 

"When you have a reduction of 11 percentage points, it's a positive because it says that the majority don't necessarily think the country is going in the wrong direction; 47 per cent think it is. But as the data further says, 29 per cent of the people we interviewed believe the country is going in the right direction, which is also an increase of the last period in September," he noted. 

 

In terms of party alignment, Mr. Anderson pointed out that generally those who feel the country is going in the wrong direction are, at the time of the poll, comprised mainly of People's National Party supporters.

 

Some 76 per cent of those who feel the country is headed in the wrong direction say they will be voting for the PNP in upcoming elections.  

 

On the other hand 65 per cent of those who feel the country is headed in the right direction say they will be voting for the Jamaica Labour Party in the next elections.  

 

At the same time, just 16 per cent of those who indicated they will vote for the JLP in upcoming elections believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. 

 

Meanwhile, participants were also asked if they felt their personal situation has improved or worsened over the last five years.

 

Four of every 10 people surveyed, or 41 per cent, said their own personal situation has improved, since the last general election in 2020.

 

At the same time, 26 per cent said their situation had got worse, while 33 per cent believed there was no change. 

 

Mr. Anderson said this represents another strong showing by the Dr. Andrew Holness led administration, as younger people believe their situation is improving. 

 

The national poll also indicates that 23 per cent of those who say they will vote for the PNP admitted that their situation has improved since the 2020 election.