Prime Minister P.J. Patterson
ON THE eve of his departure, 46 per cent of those interviewed in a recent Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll believe that outgoing Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has done a good job.
However, a sharp 34 per cent of the 1,008 persons surveyed think Patterson did a bad job. Twenty per cent said they could not decide.
However, Patterson was adjudged the worst of the six Prime Ministers in independent Jamaica with 35 per cent of the sample indicating this. Notably, an even larger number of persons, 36 per cent, could not decide who was the worst prime minister.
Johnson and his team of researchers conducted the poll on March 4 and 5 in 84 communities across the island's 14 parishes. The margin of error is plus or minus three per cent.
A DISTANT SECOND
Former Prime Minister Edward Seaga was a distant second to Mr. Patterson with 21 per cent of those polled choosing him as the worst prime minister.
Hugh Shearer and Michael Manley were third and fourth respectively with four per cent and two per cent each. Meanwhile, Sir Donald Sangster and Sir Alexander Bustamante were both tied on one per cent.
When asked to choose the best of the six prime ministers, Mr. Manley won hands down by bagging 49 per cent of the sample. Mr. Seaga came second in this category with 15 per cent while Mr. Patterson was third with 11 per cent. Sir Alexander, Mr. Shearer and Sir Donald followed with nine per cent, three per cent and one per cent respectively.
Twelve per cent of the persons polled could not decide on who to name as the best prime minister.
