New Poll: 52% of Venezuelans Say Opposition Lacks Plan for the Nation

Caracas, July 27, 2015 (venezuelanalysis.com) – A new study by the independent, Caracas-based polling firm Hinterlaces has determined that 52% of Venezuelans believe the anti-chavista opposition has no “plan for the nation,” among other surprising revelations. 

When asked “Is it true or false that the opposition has no plan for the nation?” 52% of respondents affirmed the statement, while 41% answered false. The outcome confirms analysts’ observations that despite widespread discontent fueled by severe economic difficulties, a clear majority of Venezuelans view the opposition as having no viable program of its own, aside from replacing the current government in power. 

Responses to other questions on the poll further revealed the public’s marked lack of confidence in the Venezuelan opposition. 

61% of respondents agreed with the statement that the opposition “continues to be led by the old leaders of the Fourth Republic” against a mere 36% who disagreed, suggesting that a sizable majority of the population associates the opposition with the oligarchic parties that ran the country between 1958 and 1999, amid entrenched corruption and systematic repression. The main opposition coalition, the Roundtable of Democratic Unity (MUD), still includes in its ranks the two principal political parties of the Fourth Republic, Democratic Action (AD) and the Christian Democratic COPEI. 

In a similarly resounding indictment of the leadership of the opposition, 85% of respondents concurred with the statement, “it is necessary to have new people leading the opposition,” against just 13% who disagreed. 

Contrary to international media reports of growing popularity for key opposition figures such as Leopoldo Lopez, 67% of Venezuelans agree that “the opposition has votes because of the discontent in the country but does not have popular backing” versus 29% in disagreement. The result suggests that the opposition’s efforts to capitalize on Venezuela’s economic woes won’t easily translate into a majority win in the upcoming parliamentary elections this December. 

The poll also found that 77% of Venezuelans perceive the opposition as “very divided” against 20% who disagree, reinforcing an image of fragmentation in the opposition camp, which became even starker last month following the MUD’s refusal to endorse a march called by far right Popular Will leader Lopez. 

Conducted between July 4th and 11th, the study was based on a sample pool of 1200 respondents who were drawn from throughout the country and reflected a diversity of age, sex, education, and class categories. The figures were reported with a confidence level of 95% and contained a +/-2.7% margin of error, according to Hinterlaces data.