Managua, September 9 (RHC)-- Despite U.S. sanctions, and a year on from opposition violence, a new opinion poll by a private company reveals that over 50 percent of Nicaraguans would vote for the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) if there were an election today. The poll also revealed an extremely low level of support for the right-wing opposition, with a larger number backing no party.
The recent survey was carried out by independent polling agency M&R Consulting. The poll showed that 52.6 percent endorse the leftist FSLN as a first choice, this includes 15.1 percent who say they are independent, but would vote Sandinista if given the choice. Meanwhile, just 11.2 percent of voters endorse the opposition as a first choice, out of that, 8.1% are independent voters who would back them. The percentage of voters who plan to not vote for any party stands at 36.2 percent.
The survey also asked a number of other questions regarding the economy and public life, asking whether voters believe these issues would be better under the Sandinistas or the opposition.
52.3 percent say that they have a better chance of finding a job under a Sandinista government than under the opposition, 56 percent say the FSLN would provide better health and education services that the right wing opposition. 57.8 percent say the country has improved in the last 6 years, under the Sandinistas, whereas 32 percent say that it has worsened.
Over 90% of respondents said that the spread of fake news presents a problem for society. This figures comes amid a recent scandal, where it was revealed that a boss of an opposition ‘human rights’ NGO had vastly inflated the number of those who died during protests last year, as a means of securing greater U.S. funding. Staff from the NGO itself denounced their employer, who was trying to set up a new organization in Costa Rica.
The results of the poll will come as a relief for the Sandinistas. The country is emerging from the wave of right-wing violence that swept Nicaragua in 2018, whereby opposition groups, financed by the U.S. carried out attacks and killings of Sandinista supporters, along with other violent acts, in their bid to overthrow the progressive government led by Daniel Ortega.
Nevertheless, following months of peace talks, and the establishment of thousands of local ‘peace commissions’, the country has returned to relative calm. On Monday, during the celebrations for the foundation of the post-revolution Armed Forces,Ortega made an appeal against conflict, saying, "Every peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean cries out for peace and unity".
Although Nicaragua continues to face challenges from the U.S., who have imposed economic sanctions and labeled the country as part of ‘troika of tyranny’ along with Venezuela and Cuba.
