By Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner WriterTHE TWO major political parties are giving different interpretations to the latest poll findings indicating their respective standing in public support.
According to latest Gleaner-commissioned Don Anderson poll, published on Sunday, 26.6 per cent of those interviewed said they would support the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) without the current leader Edward Seaga at the helm. Another 24.4 per cent said they would vote for the PNP with a new president, in place of the incumbent, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.
Mr. Seaga has announced that he will retire from the leadership of the JLP in November, while Prime Minister Patterson has indicated that he will demit office before the next general election, constitutionally due in 2007.
COMFORTABLE WITH SITUATION
Asked whether he was disappointed with the statistically insignificant lead held by his party at this time, Dr. Christopher Tufton, president of the JLP-affiliated Generation 2000 (G2K), professed comfort with the current situation.
"This is a mid-term poll, and the context is that, politically, we are at a crossroads where the main political parties are in very clear transition in terms of leadership. The electorate is likely to be weighing that in trying to determine which party to support in the future," he argued.
ENCOURAGING
Nevertheless, Dr. Tufton was anxious to claim the advantage, as indicated by the polls, saying it was "encouraging that the people want to give the JLP a chance at leadership and it is for us to make use of that opportunity."
The electorate, he said, was "watching and hoping that the future dispensation will see new leaders emerge at both the national and constituency levels with solutions to address the fundamental challenges like crime and job creation."
With the latest polls showing his party in a statistical dead heat with the JLP, more than 15 years into its current stint in government, the PNP's Deputy General Secretary, Colin Campbell, gave an optimistic perspective.
The reason the PNP was still in contention, he argued, was "because of the performance of the Government; sector by sector, there have been improvements. Then when you look at the alternative over the last 10 years, the image of the JLP to the public has been that of an unstable party. And therefore, there has been an unwillingness of the people to invest in an unstable organisation."
