Opinion leaders, national sample see gov’t as ‘successful’ in limiting COVID-19 — poll

AMMAN — The government has succeeded in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic according to 92 per cent of respondents in a national sample and 94 per cent of opinion leaders, a poll showed on Wednesday. 

The poll was conducted by the University of Jordan’s Strategic Studies Centre on the two-year anniversary of the formation of Prime Minister Omar Razzaz’s government, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The poll, the sixth conducted since the government's formation, showed that 37 per cent of the national sample and 43 per cent of opinion leaders think that “things are going in the right direction". 

As for the key problems facing the Kingdom, both samples said that difficult economic conditions and the high unemployment rate are top challenges.

The results revealed that 69 per cent of the national sample thinks that this government has been able to bear up under its responsibilities since its formation, while 59 per cent of opinion leaders agree. 

As for assessing the performance of the prime minister, the poll showed that 75 per cent of the national sample and 66 per cent of opinion leaders believe that he has been able to bear the responsibilities of this phase.

As for ministers, 68 per cent of the national sample and 53 per cent of the opinion leaders indicated that Cabinet members have performed well. 

Seventy-six per cent of opinion leaders said that the Kingdom’s economic conditions today are worse than in 2019, up by 28 per cent when compared with the poll conducted in December of last year.

Meanwhile, 43 per cent of opinion leaders believe that the economic situation will worsen over the next 12 months. Sixty per cent of the national sample’s respondents said that they were employed before the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and 52 per cent of employees in non-government sectors indicated that they lost their jobs due to the pandemic. 

Thirty per cent of respondents said that the remote work experience was successful to a high or medium degree in terms of the effectiveness of accomplishing work, while 26 per cent believe it “was not successful at all” and 30 per cent said that the efficiency of remote work depended on the nature of the job. 

Meanwhile, 58 per cent of respondents said that distance education for school students was “not successful”, while only 12 per cent said that distance education for university students was successful and “highly effective”. 

As for deductions from the salaries of public employees, 75 and 71 per cent of the national sample and opinion leaders, respectively, expressed their dissatisfaction with the decision.

SSC Director Zaid Iyadat said that the national sample comprised 1,204 people (50 per cent for each gender), who were chosen randomly from 200 areas nationwide, while the opinion leaders included 700 individuals.

The survey was conducted between June 14 and 21 by 15 researchers.