( L - R ) SIMPSON MILLER, PHILLIPS, DAVIES AND BLYTHE
WHILE PUBLIC opinion polls show Portia Simpson Miller is more popular than her counterparts in the People's National Party (PNP) leadership race, there remains a strong view in some quarters that she is not the most suitable to lead.
The Sunday Gleaner-commissioned Don Anderson Polls show a clear average popular support of 50 per cent or more for Mrs. Simpson Miller. However, in a recent interview with students at the University of the West Indies (UWI), a significant number of interviewees expressed the view that Mrs. Simpson Miller, though honest, was an incompetent negotiator and indecisive leader.
This contrasts with the former Labour Minister's record of success in the resolution of industrial disputes while she held that porfolio. The candidate who has been consistently second to Mrs. Simpson Miller, Dr. Peter Phillps, is the man many of the students believe is most capable of leading the country. Despite lagging near 30 percentage points on average behind the strongest contender, most of Anderson's respondents were of the view that Dr. Phillips had superior leadership qualities compared to the three other candidates.
Dr. Omar Davies and Dr. Karl Blythe sat at the bottom of the 2005 ranks for the PNP party presidential post in the Anderson polls, securing most times as little as 5.4 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively.
UWI students believe Dr. Blythe is too soft a leader and indecisive to be party president and ultimately prime minister. They link these characteristics to his stewardship of Operation Pride housing projects as Housing Minister.
Meanwhile, mixed reactions to Dr. Davies' performance as Finance Minister may have helped to keep him behind Mrs. Simpson Miller and Dr. Phillips, some have suggested.
Pointing to his vision for a five per cent growth of the economy, UWI lecturer and sociologist Dr. Orville Taylor, said while Dr. Davies' views are often optimistic, they are not necessarily pragmatic. Others have said the same, citing that, as a leader, his goals are often outside the realm of the vision of the ordinary Jamaican.
Support for a Bruce Golding-led government has been mixed throughout the year with many pointing to his departure from, and subsequent return to, the Jamaica Labour Party as a sign of weakness. That has been compounded by his move to initiate a day of protest against government policies and high prices, which received mixed reactions from the public. But the polls have indicated that Mr. Golding is now regarded as a stronger leader than his contenders, though not as liked as his strongest opponent, Portia Simpson Miller.
