Jordan Times
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Gov't scores 72% in public confidence — CSS poll
By Alia Shukri Hamzeh
AMMAN — Public confidence in the newly formed
government of Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit was higher than for the previous
three governments of Adnan Badran, Faisal Fayez and Ali Abul Ragheb, a public
opinion poll released Saturday showed.
But consistent with decline of public confidence in consecutive governments over
the last eight years, Jordanians pinned less hope on the ability of
the13-day-old government to tackle major issues, namely poverty and
unemployment, the Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS) at the University of Jordan
poll revealed.
Of the 1,417 national sample respondents polled between December 1-7, 72 per
cent said they believe Bakhit's Cabinet will be successful in assuming its
responsibility for the upcoming phase — a 10-point rise over the Badran
government upon its formation in April 2005 (at 62 per cent).
Optimists upon the formation of the previous governments were estimated at 70
per cent for Abdur-Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh in 1999, 77 per cent for Abul Ragheb in
2000 which dropped to 64 per cent in 2002, 64 per cent for Fayez in 2003 and 62
per cent for Badran in 2005.
This is the latest in a regular series of polls the CSS has conducted since 1996
as successive governments are sworn in and after their first 100 days, six
months and one year in office. The surveys are made to gauge expectations first
and then the perceptions of performance by prime ministers and their teams among
two samples: Opinion leaders and the general public.
In slight contrast with the national sample, opinion leaders were less
optimistic about the success of the new government to shoulder its
responsibilities and to handle citizens' economic woes
Opinion leaders, who include former officials, journalists and writers,
university teachers, political parties and professional association leaders,
businesspeople and other professionals, were consistent with around the same
level of optimism shown over the expected success of governments for the past 10
years.
Around 74 per cent of opinion leaders expressed optimism in the Bakhit
government. In past polls, 75 per cent expressed optimism for Badran, 68 per
cent for Fayez, 69 per cent and 75 per cent for Abul Ragheb, and 75 per cent for
Rawabdeh.
Pollsters believe the opinion leaders have remained consistent in their level of
optimism with regards to the consecutive governments' success because the
country's political elite are a close-knit segment of society.
According to the CSS poll, the majority of the 669 opinion leaders polled
believe the government will perform well in 14 out of the 19 mandated items
listed in His Majesty King Abdullah's Letter of Designation to Bakhit.
The majority of the national sample, however, believe that the newly appointed
24-member government will be successful in handling 17 major issues.
The difference between opinion leaders' somewhat consistent evaluation of
consecutive governments and the growing positiveness shown by the general public
is a sign of an increasing gap between their perceptions and expectations of
success.
According to analysts, the public expressed relief and satisfaction when Bakhit
was named prime minister, primarily because of his political and military
background.
His government was seen as tasked with protecting the country from terrorist
attacks, in the wake of the November 9 triple bombings that rocked Amman and
killed 60 people.
In his Letter of Designation, the King mandated Bakhit with accelerating reform
and countering terrorism, saying the recent bombings have shown the need for a
comprehensive strategy that counters the culture which condones the killing of
innocent civilians or persons labelled “infidels” by terrorists who distort
Islam.
Among the CSS' national sample, 86 per cent expected the government to take the
appropriate measures to counter the international phenomenon of terrorism, and
88 per cent of opinion leaders said it would be successful at the task.
The government is also expected to put into practice the recommendations of the
2,500-page National Agenda that was submitted to King Abdullah last month. Top
priorities include introducing new legislation governing general elections,
political parties and anti-terrorism. The government is also expected to
continue overhauling the public sector, improve people's living standards, fight
corruption, alleviate poverty and reduce unemployment.
Among the national sample, 44 per cent believe the government will be successful
in fighting poverty, whereas 49 per cent believe it will successfully combat
unemployment, 55 per cent believe it will stomp out corruption and 60 per cent
said they believe the government will succeed in providing housing for those
with limited income.
Opinion leaders expressed less faith than the general public in the government's
ability to fight poverty, unemployment and corruption (32, 34 and 42 per cent),
while 62 per cent showed confidence in the government successfully providing
housing for limited-income citizens.
According to the pollsters, public faith in the government's ability to tackle
major issues of concern to citizens, namely poverty and unemployment, remain
relatively low (lower than 50 per cent) for both samples.
The general public was also more confident than opinion leaders that the new
government will advance political development locally (62 per cent for an
improved local political arena against 56 per cent).
On issuing a democratic elections law, 66 per cent of the national sample
believe the government can come up with such legislation compared to 58 per cent
of opinion leaders. According to the CSS survey, both the national sample and
opinion leaders were optimistic about the government's ability to achieve its
foreign policy goals (79 per cent and 78 per cent). Both opinion leaders and the
national sample had high expectations that the government would be able to
support the Iraqi people and the Palestinian cause.
Another high level of expectations from both samples was that the government
would be able to develop the education sector (82 per cent of the general public
and 70 per cent of opinion leaders.)
High expectations on reforming the educational system has been reflected in CSS
public opinion polls for the past several years during which the country
launched its 10-year plan to upgrade and reform the level of education for all
grades and introduced its e-learning initiative.