Politics
Haiti: President Martelly has highest approval ratings in Western Hemisphere
Haitian President Michel Martelly. PHOTO/File
(PRNewsire) – The government of Haiti has generally received negative ratings in national and international media yet the majority of Haitians appear to strongly disagree with what journalists and pundits have been saying about their government.
That is what Newlink Research, a Miami based firm that polls extensively throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and Dagmar Research, one of Haiti’s leading public opinion firms, found in their second and most recent survey that gauges the pulse of how Haitians look at their government.
Newlink-Dagmar surveyed 1098 Haitians between December 11 and 17; the poll has a margin of error of +/-5 percent at the 90 percent confidence level.
According to the poll, President Martelly’s approval rating climbed to 80.5 percent from 62.4 percent. This rate makes him the most popular head of state in the western hemisphere. Martelly, a very popular former musician and entertainer, regularly visits towns and cities all over Haiti where he interacts directly with Haitians.
Martelly’s coattails appear to be very wide since Haitians also gave very high marks to Prime Minister Lamothe whose approval ratings rose to 68.1 percent from 51.4 percent.
Lamothe, a businessman turned politician, is generally perceived as someone who has brought business practice and discipline into government.
Haitians also gave the tandem team of Martelly/Lamothe very high ratings; the government reached 77.6 percent up from only 43.2 percent in May. Martelly and Lamothe were perceived as working well together by 66.3 percent.
