Anil, Frank not Irfaan stand better chance of unseating Granger at next elections - poll

Anil, Frank not Irfaan stand better chance of unseating Granger at next elections – poll

Aug 27, 2019 News

Preliminary results of an opinion poll on the upcoming elections has revealed that People Progressive Party (PPP) presidential candidate, Irfaan Ali, is not favoured with party supporters.

Not so popular: Irfaan Ali

Trinidad’s political analyst: Kirk Meighoo

Rather, his colleagues including Anil Nandlall, Dr. Frank Anthony and Dr. Vindhya Persaud stands a better chance at winning the elections against President David Granger.
The “nationwide” opinion poll were conducted by Turkeyen Research and Polling Institute (TRPI)—an initiative headed by Trinidad-born political analyst, Dr. Kirk Meighoo.
The survey exercise has queried potential voters on their opinions on the current political situation and related developments, including popular support for aspiring presidential candidates, would-be challengers of President Granger, and other issues.
Preliminary examination of the data, TRPI says, shows that a majority of the country wants elections within weeks.

Anil Nandlall

Dr. Vindhya Persaud

Dr. Frank Anthony

In terms of the PPP’s political support in the upcoming election, the group noted that a significant number of persons are critical of Ali being chosen as the party’s presidential candidate.
Swing voters in particular appear to reject him unanimously.
“What is notable is that Mr. Ali is rebuffed even by most PPP supporters who appear to prefer the former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, and to a lesser extent, Dr. Frank Anthony, in some areas. Mr. Ali’s support is low even in his hometown on the West Coast and surrounding areas, while Nandlall corners almost all the support on the Corentyne and is split with Dr. Anthony elsewhere. From what we see so far, on a national basis, Mr. Ali is only ahead of Dr. Vindhya Persaud as the PPP Presidential candidate. This shows national disaffection with the Opposition as well.”
According to Meighoo, interestingly enough, it is APNU supporters (rather than PPP supporters) who seem most in favour of Ali as the PPP’s presidential candidate- but they have indicated they will not vote for him.
“Indeed, the polling results seem to suggest that President Granger will have his easiest battle against Ali and toughest against Anthony and Nandlall.”
Meanwhile, the survey results from Region Six East Berbice/Corentyne where some 150 potential voters were interviewed from an ethnic viewpoint, support for the political parties is as follows from Region 6: 93% of Indians support the PPP.
However, 4% was found to support APNU + AFC; 3% are undecided. Amongst Africans, 26% will vote PPP, 69% APNU+AFC, and 5% undecided.
The number of Amerindians polled in the region was too low to provide a representative sample, Meighoo said, but the vast majority of those polled (83%) would vote for the APNU+AFC, with 17% voting for the PPP.
For the mixed population, 23% support the APNU + AFC; while 67% support the PPP.
Overall, the total support for the parties in Region 6 amongst all ethnic groups is: 69% PPP, 28% APNU+AFC, 3% undecided.
TRPI noted that the opinion poll is conducted at a time when Guyana is due for elections under controversial circumstances.
“At the same time, Guyana is on the threshold of a new economic trajectory with the coming on-stream of immense quantities of oil and gas production, with the increased involvement of international actors in the Guyanese economic and policy orbit,” TRPI noted.
The group noted that it is not affiliated with any political party.
“The polling association seeks to educate the nation and the international community on the country’s collective views on varied matters of public importance. I have been commissioned to supervise this survey and communicate its purpose and findings to various stakeholders.”
Online research showed Meighoo being described as a political scientist in Trinidad and would have contested elections there too.