File photo : Photo: From L, Democrat party leader Chalermchai Sri-on and his secretary general Det-it Khaothong
About 41% of poll respondents in 14 southern provinces say they will not vote for the Democrat party in the next general election, according to an opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA).
The NIDA poll gauged the opinions of 1,310 people, of various educational and occupational backgrounds living in 14 southern provinces, about how they feel about the Democrat party’s decision to join the Pheu Thai-led coalition and whether this decision will affect how they will vote in the next general election.
The poll mentioned that 54.19% of the respondents say they definitely disagree with the decision, while 14.58% say they somewhat disagree. 12.98% say they fully agree, while 11.91% say they somewhat agree. 6.34% refused to respond or said that they are not interested in the issue.
Asked whether they will vote for the Democrat party in the next election, the poll result shows 41.37% of the respondents say they will not vote for the party, 41.15% say they are undecided and 17.48% say they will continue to support the party.
Meanwhile, a Suan Dusit Poll shows that 30.73% of the respondents trust the People’s party, while 22.38% say they have confidence in the Pheu Thai party, compared to the last poll conducted in July which showed 32.53% trust the People’s party against Pheu Thai party’s 19.79%.
Suan Dusit Poll conducted an online and field opinion survey from September 4 to -6, with 1,149 samples.
Pornphan Buathong, chair of Suan Dusit Poll, says that local elections are related to national elections and, unless the People’s party manage to defeat local politicians in local elections, the party is unlikely to win a landslide in a national election.
The relationship between the local voters and the local politicians is a key factor in the local elections, not the party affiliation, according to Assistant Professor Anchalee Rattana of the School of Law and Politics at Suan Dusit University.
