POLITICAL ORIENTATIONS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TOWARDS PARTICIPATING IN THE GOVERNORATE COUNCIL ELECTIONS - AN OPINION POLL

Abstract

The research is an attempt to study the reality of political participation of university youth, because their participation reduces their political vacuum, increases political development, and is a form of good governance and popular oversight. The research aims to know the political orientations of university students by surveying the opinions of a random sample of them about their level of participation. In the governorate council elections, because they constitute an important percentage in society that qualifies them to be an influential factor in the elections and the victory of the candidates, especially since they have a high level of education and this factor pushes them towards political participation, and they are an influential figure in political work. Among the most important findings of the study: the presence of indicators of frustration and indifference to participation in political affairs among university students because of what they believe are the disadvantages of the practices of political elites, and that they will vote for independent figures from the youth, who have administrative capabilities and integrity, who announce their electoral program, and are respected. The Constitution and is committed to the principles of Islam and defending the interests of its governorate and its voters. Two-thirds of university youth did not participate in the October 2019 demonstrations for various reasons, the most important of which was chaos and the lack of a unified leadership, the deviation of the demonstrations from the real demands for improving services, and the predominance of personal interests and external interference to pressure the government. There are approximately two-thirds of university youth who are interested in following up on the government’s performance and evaluating its work, while a quarter of the respondents believe that its performance is no different from its predecessors. Almost as many of them do not have the knowledge to diagnose the government’s performance or do not want to, while more than (37%) of the youth believe University confirmed that the performance of the current government is slightly better than previous governments.