IISEPS press release on the nationwide public opinion poll conducted in December, 2009

The economic crisis, which according to the president "has only hardened us", became number one problem for the majority of the Belarusians. Thus, 81.3% of respondents consider that Belarusian economy finds itself in crisis, for 52.4% the year of 2009 turned out to be more difficult than 2008 (it "was easier" only for 7.6%), at that for 41.8% the crisis "seriously affected the family's every-day life" ("not affected at all" for only 10.8%). Thus, 28.7% have faced a delay in wages or pension payment for the last 12 months (including 19% of those who faced it "several times or monthly"), from 54% to 61% of respondents for the same period of time had to postpone purchasing or to cut down expenses for buying clothes, a TV-set or a computer, or a trip for vacations. When answering the question: "If one speaks about the life of your family, then what do you and members of your family have for an object?" almost 40% answered "to live not worse than the majority of families in my town, district", whereas only 26.5% aspire "to live better than the majority". That is why among the most acute problems which our country and its citizens are facing now almost 80% mentioned the rise in prices, 42.6% - impoverishment of the population, 39.5% - unemployment, 34.4% - setback in production, 25.5% - corruption and bribe taking (for comparison: only 4.3% mentioned the threat of Belarus losing independence). The crisis also revealed fundamental changes which had taken place in the structure of the Belarusian society for the last decade: in the opinion of almost 40% of respondents the poor and the low-income population suffered from the crisis in Belarus more than others, i.e. the very "ordinary people" who once used to be the hope and the support of the president (only 3.3% said that employees of the government agencies and officials suffered more than others). It is not surprising that much more of the Belarusians consider that the struggle against the economic crisis is more successfully conducted in other countries than in Belarus (42.1% vs. 30.4%), and the fact that Belarusian economy finds itself in crisis is believed to be to a considerable degree or in full measure the consequence of the country's leadership economic policy of the last years by over a half of the population (51.6%). Hence, regardless of the authorities' cheerful assurance, more than a half of the population (51.5%) expects crisis termination not earlier than in a year (and almost a fourth - after 2011).

The feeling of the shattered social justice which is becoming more and more acute ("the present authorities express interests of the officials and bureaucrats") which we wrote about not long ago is acquiring a still more vivid political aspect - an increasingly larger number of citizens feel "out of job". Thus, in the idea of almost a half of the population (47.9%) the conception of democracy, as in the majority countries of the world, is connected primarily with the just system of governing a state with the equal participation of all the citizens (only 17.2% agree that all this is "idle talk, demagogy"). However, answering the question: "What influence can you exert upon what is going on in your district, in your street? " 51.8% honestly said "none", 62.7% have no impact in their town (region, village), and 72.7% - in the country as a whole. Comparative analysis shows that the feeling of "unnecessary people" is steadily spreading over the whole society: if in May of 2005 54.5% of respondents believed that "people like myself cannot exert any influence on the decisions that are being taken by the authorities in our country", now there are already 71.9% of such people; if at that time 32.4% considered that "people like myself cannot openly express their political views", now there are 45.4% of such people; if at that time 33.1% were sure that "people like myself cannot at all influence the way our life is taking shape", now there are 44.1% of such people. No wonder that the majority of the polled (43.6%) do not believe that the recent changes in the electoral legislation will raise the level of elections democratic character in Belarus (only 29.8% agree to it). The increasing gap between the authorities and the people apparently explains people's critical attitudes concerning the questions far from the "high policy", too. Thus, almost three fourths of respondents (74%) consider that the authorities acted completely inefficiently or not efficiently enough at the time of the autumn swine flu epidemic (did not manage to organize effective medical treatment, supplying with drugs and protective means, concealed information about the real scale of the epidemic thereby causing panic among the population).

To read the IISEPS December opinion poll further, please visit the website of the institute: www.iiseps.org

15. Januar 2010 in Politik und Gesellschaft

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