BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS – A recent poll in St. Kitts and Nevis has indicated that Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas and his St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKLP) still have the vote of confidence of the population.
This is according to a Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES) public opinion poll which was released on Monday after being conducted during the last two weeks of March.
The story carried by the Barbados-based Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) showed that if elections were called at that time, 45 percent of the electorate would give their vote to Prime Minister Douglas while 20 percent would support People’s Action Movement (PAM) leader, Mr. Lindsay Grant.
CADRES also questioned respondents about whether they were satisfied with the leadership of both political parties and found that 49 percent were satisfied with Douglas’ leadership and 55 percent felt he was the best person to lead the SKLP.
It also showed that 47 percent said they were dissatisfied with the stewardship provided by Grant and 42 percent said they did not think that he was the best leadership choice.
A probe into the alternatives to PAM leadership revealed that the vast majority – 67 percent – of people showed a preference for the party’s lone Member of Parliament Hon. Shawn Richards, while Mr. Glenroy Blanchette received the support of 21 percent of the respondents.
The survey also investigated the popularity of the soon to be concluded Electoral Reform Programme.
When asked whether they were generally satisfied with the outcome of the initiative, 49 percent said they were, while 23 percent said no and the remaining 28 percent said they were unsure.
“Specifically, CADRES asked persons how they felt about three major components, namely the National ID card, the re-registration process and the manner in which the issue of overseas voting was dealt with,’ a release from CADRES said.
“The overwhelming majority of Kittitians were satisfied with the National ID card and re-registration process – 67 percent and 61 percent respectively. However, the response to the overseas voting issue was considerably less clear.
Forty-two percent of respondents were happy about the treatment of overseas voters, while 39 percent were not happy about the manner in which that issue was dealt with.
CADRES said the data suggested that the population was “generally pleased with the outcome of the often controversial electoral reform program, but have reservations about the fact that this program appears to have formalized the overseas voting tradition.”
General elections in St. Kitts and Nevis are not constitutionally due until October 2009.
