JAP 'most popular party'

The recently launched Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) has overtaken ODM as the most popular party in the country.

According to the opinion poll conducted by Infotrak Research Consulting Firm released Sunday, JAP currently commands 30 per cent popularity compared to ODM's 26.

The analysis of coalition support revealed that Jubilee had 10 per cent more support than the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), according to the survey conducted between March 20 and 22 this year.

It sampled 1,800 respondents for interview to represent the Kenya adult population of 19 million.

The poll indicates Jubilee commanded support in four of the eight regions of Kenya namely Central, Rift Valley, North Eastern and Nairobi while CORD on the other hand commands support in three regions; Coast, Nyanza and Western.

The poll noted that Jubilee seemed to have made noticeable inroads at the Coast, Western and Nairobi, and that it is those regions that had resulted in its overall improved popularity rating.

It, however, indicated that owing to the strong presence of both CORD and Jubilee in Eastern, the region currently sits as a swing region.

The merging of the Jubilee coalition parties in Jubilee Party had also resulted in the reduction to negligible levels of the popularity of URP overall but most significantly in Rift Valley.

Interesting, though, is that TNA still had eight per cent support nationally.

The opinion poll showed that only two political parties, Jubilee Alliance Party and ODM, had support that cuts across all regions and thus had national appeal.