OPPOSITION LEADER Bruce Golding has so far failed to impress the public, according to the first official poll conducted since his ascension to the helm of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) earlier this year.
The latest Gleaner-commissioned Don Anderson poll has revealed that more than 48 per cent of the public believed Mr. Golding's performance, since taking over as Opposition Leader and Member of Parliament for West Kingston, could only be considered average.
"Persons feeling this way are principally younger persons within the age groups 25 to 34, females and others in the middle income strata of society," said pollster Don Anderson in his analysis. Mr. Anderson explained that those respondents considered the Opposition Leader's performance neither good nor bad and that he had, therefore, not impressed them to date.
The poll was conducted by Mr. Anderson and his team of researchers from Market Research Services Ltd., and included interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,037 persons aged 18 years and over in all parishes across the island. Fieldwork for the survey was conducted between June 2 and June 30.
Just over 27 per cent of those interviewed felt that Mr. Golding was doing a good to excellent job but, Mr. Anderson stressed, the large majority said the Opposition Leader was doing a good rather than excellent job.
STRONGEST CRITICS
The pollster said the strongest support for Mr. Golding's performance came from older persons, within the 45 to 54 age group, where just over 31 per cent felt he was doing a good to excellent job.
Mr. Anderson added, however, that the positive ratings for the Opposition Leader were countered by over 24 per cent of persons who rated his performance negatively. The strongest critics of Mr. Golding's performance came from the same age group that showed the strongest support for him.
Among those individuals, close to 29 per cent rated him either not good or bad, the pollster said, while noting that he was better rated among the less affluent of the population.
Mr. Golding was finally confirmed as Opposition Leader after several months of bitter infighting prior to and after the February resignation of former Opposition Leader Edward Seaga.
"(But) since his swearing-in (Golding) has been associated with a number of comments that have resonated negatively in some quarters and caused some persons to conclude that he was returning to a confrontationist approach to deal with differences with either the government or the police," Mr. Anderson said.
Soon after assuming his new role, the Opposition Leader was lambasted by the governing People's National Party (PNP) and several elements within the public sphere for vehemently suggesting there would be 'bangarang' if the police continued to mistreat Spanish Town residents who were detained behind 'razor-wire' fencing during an upsurge in violence in the area.
Those who positively rated Mr. Golding primarily claimed he was making the right moves (25 per cent), while most who rated him negatively said he was doing nothing (56 per cent).
