A growing number of Jamaicans are expressing confidence in the Jamaica Labour Party, JLP, government’s ability to address the main problems affecting Jamaica.
That’s according to the latest findings of the Nationwide Bluedot polls, powered by Total Tools.
The polls indicate that while confidence in the government’s competence has been steadily improving, the public’s confidence in the Opposition People’s National Party, PNP, to solve the country’s problems has stalled.
Ricardo Brooks has our story.
The respondents to the Nationwide Bluedot polls identified crime, corruption, and the cost of living as the top concerns plaguing Jamaica.
When asked who they thought was best suited to address those problems, the Holness government gets the nod.
A plurality of 36% said the government of Prime Minister Andrew Holness had their confidence to fix the problems.
That’s compared to the 23% who said the PNP was best suited to address the country’s main problems.
Another 27% were not sure, while 13% of respondents said neither the JLP nor the PNP could successfully address the country’s problems.
But it’s in the movement of the numbers since February 2023 that the full story emerges.
There’s been an 8-percentage point movement in confidence in the JLP’s ability to address the country’s problems.
The number has moved from 28% last February to 36% in September this year.
The breakdown shows confidence in the JLP’s ability stood at 28% in February 2023. That increased to 35% in September 2023.
It dipped slightly in February 2024 to 32%.
The public’s confidence level in the JLP to address the country’s issues has now rebounded to 36% in September 2024.
The PNP meanwhile, has seen a marginal 3% increase in the public’s confidence in its ability to tackle the country’s main problems.
Only 20-percent expressed confidence in the PNP’s ability in February 2023. That figure now stands at 23% in September 2024.
That 23-percent is slightly down from the 24% that expressed confidence in the PNP’s ability in February 2024.
The current finding is equal to the 23% support expressed for the PNP in September 2023.
The parties are sure to take stock of these numbers.
The obvious question to ask is, has time really come? The answer to that seems less certain.
The Nationwide Bluedot polls powered by Total Tools were conducted between September 6th and 19th.
It sampled 1246 respondents. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.