Jamaica’s two major political organisations appear to be heading to the mattresses after the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) rejected as “fictitious and contrived” a poll commissioned by the People’s National Party (PNP) showing it with a five percentage point lead over the Andrew Holness-led Government.

“The poll is sponsored by the PNP and its findings are designed to artificially influence public opinion. The release of [the] party-sponsored poll is part of the PNP’s propaganda and misinformation campaign intended to shore up a weak leader, sow discontent, and distract the country with political mischief,” JLP General Secretary Dr Horace Chang said in a testy release Tuesday afternoon following a mid-morning news conference hosted by the PNP to release the findings of the survey done by pollster Don Anderson.

The PNP said the poll was conducted between June 8 and 14 among 1,012 registered voters aged 18 years and older. It has a margin of error of three per cent.

According to poll, when researchers asked respondents which party they would vote for if an election were held now, 30.2 per cent said the PNP, while 25 per cent chose the JLP.

On the question of the popularity of PNP President Mark Golding and JLP leader Holness, the poll found that 53.2 per cent of respondents said they had a positive view of Golding, compared to 54.5 per cent who preferred Holness.

Additionally, when the individuals polled were asked if they felt the governing party is deserving of another term in office, 47.6 per cent said ‘no’; 31.6 per cent said ‘yes’; while 20.8 per cent said they were ‘unsure’.

During the press conference, held at the PNP’s headquarters on Old Hope Road in St Andrew, Golding expressed confidence that, based on the survey results, the PNP — which was crushed 14-49 seats in the 2020 General Election — will emerge victorious when Jamaicans next go to the polls.

The PNP president, who appeared upbeat, said it was a “good day” for the PNP, as it is now enjoying a substantial lead after trailing the JLP in previous polls.

“While encouraged by this, we are by no means complacent. We do not take this for granted; and, indeed, we recognise that we have more work to be done,” Golding said.

He said the poll results represent a significant event for the PNP, noting that the trend has continued over the last 12 months, “wherein the fortunes of the party with Jamaican voters have improved significantly to the point where we now enjoy a lead over the JLP of a little over five per cent of persons… who are indicating who they would vote for if an election was called now”.

“This is a significant improvement — close to 100 per cent actually — over the 12-month period for the PNP. Similarly, the JLP’s fortunes have declined steadily over the period and, hence, having more or less caught them up in February this year, the PNP has now surged ahead,” he said, adding that the party will continue its work on the ground to take its message to the people.

However, Dr Chang, in his release, said the Administration’s internal poll findings show the Government and the JLP in a continued strong and leading position.

“Despite [the] challenges, people see that the fundamentals of this Government are sound, and the policy and vision of the Government are credible and aspirational. This Administration is focused on keeping the ship of State moving forward at a good pace and even keel in rough waters,” he said.

Chang said that while the JLP constantly conducts polls to inform its internal operations, it is mindful, as the Government, not to create an election atmosphere that can introduce uncertainty in the investment decision-making process and eventually affect the country’s recovery from multiple and overlapping externally generated crises.

“The PNP’s naked, self-serving and vulgar manipulations to gain power without accounting for its past performance or placing credible alternatives to current challenges must be exposed to the people,” he said.

Earlier, Golding had asserted that the PNP has begun the process and is now well under way “of reaffirming our readiness for government in the country”, stressing that people are seeing the PNP “as a viable and preferred option at this time to govern the country”.

“This is a culmination of a number of things. I believe one of them, of course, is the very poor governance that is being displayed by the JLP Government when it comes to the issues around corruption. They have a long history or deep history over the last seven years of nepotism and cronyism being a feature of their Government. Many ministers have had to resign, have had to be placed in a naughty corner in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, and, of course, numerous board chairmen have had to leave, and so on,” he said.

Diving further into the poll findings, PNP General Secretary Dayton Campbell said when the researchers asked respondents to identify the main issues affecting the country, 45 per cent said crime and violence, 16 per cent said high cost of living, another 16 per cent said unemployment, six per cent pointed to corruption, while three per cent said unemployment among young people.

Golding said the PNP will continue to develop its policy platform and its message to provide hope to the Jamaican people that the very serious issues challenging the nation will be addressed by the next PNP Government.

These he identified as crime and violence; a dysfunctional education system, which he said is underperforming and is one of the causes of the chronic crime and violence problem facing the country; and a more inclusive economic model focusing on resilience and diversification so that the country can deal with food security issues and the impact of climate change, which is increasingly a threat to the society.