Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

Opinion polls are held regularly in Suriname. However, political parties reject to take the polls seriously, because they mistrust the quality of these polls. Also, lot of their criticism stems from the fact that parties are not able to access the complete results of the polls without paying for it. Often they are left with a summary in the media, which according to them show too little nuance.

During a well-attended workshop of the Democracy Unit representatives of political parties, including the Minister of Trade, deliberated about the value of opinion polls for parties.  Director of the Faculty of Graduate Studies of the University of Suriname, Mr Marten Schalkwijk said that in a democratic state elections are important, but more important is what is happening between elections. For this, opinion polls are an effective tool to measure if the electorate’s satisfaction with the government’s performances.

Mr Frits Spangenberg of the World Association for Public Opinion Research (ESOMAR) delivered the second address at the workshop agreed with Mr Schalkwijk but warned not to overestimate the polls because they only represent an opinion in a specific time. If politician are wise they should be given it the right weight and value. 

The workshop, widely covered in the national media, provided the political parties with a more realistic view of opinion polls and how political parties could adapt their political strategies according to the results. But above all some parties have shown interest to closely study polls on public appreciation of government’s performance and other issues of national interest. For which they are willing to pay, to access the complete research results.

- Article by Hans Breeveld, coordinator of the Democracy Unit -

The Democracy Unit is the partner of  NIMD and UNDP in the implementation of the Democracy Programme in Suriname.