Barometer of Public Opinion - 2003commissioned by
the Institute for Public Policy
Presentation (.zip, 3.45MB)
Baza de date (.sav, 809KB)
Public opinion poll conducted by IMAS Inc.
Press release
In 1998, Soros Foundation Moldova has launched a public opinion survey programme - Barometer of Public Opinion - with a view to promote correct and transparent tools of social-political and economic life reflection and to ensure the access to information for the civil society. Up to the present, seven surveys have been conducted, the last one - in November 2002.
The surveys were focussed on the following issues: political options, rating of main political leaders and political parties, living standards and life quality, economic and social Government policy, other issues of major interest.
Taking into consideration the impact and the importance of such surveys, the Institute for Public Policy organized in April-May, 2003, a new public opinion poll, performed by IMAS - Inc. Chisinau, which is a Moldavian research agency whose only founder is IMAS S.A. from Romania.
The programme Barometer of Public Opinion - 2003 is supervised by a Jury directed by Dr. Arcadie Barbarosie, Executive Director of the Institute for Public Policy. The board members are Ph.D. Ludmila Malcoci, Ph.D. Victor Moraru, Dr. Constantin Marin, Dr. Ala Belostecinic, and Dr. Ion Stanciu. The programme co-ordinator is Dr. Viorel Cibotaru. ILIGACIU SRL evaluated the correctness of the poll data in the field.
The poll was carried out within the period April, 16 - May, 2, 2003, on a sample of 1 153 persons from 65 localities, representative for the adult population of the Republic of Moldova (excluding the region from the left bank of the Nistru river). The error limit ± 3%.
Main Results
* The population is generally not content with its life standards: 55% of the respondents said they are not content with the way they live, while 76% declared that the income of their family allows them just the essential. On the other, only 19% of the respondents stated that they live worse now than last year, while 29% said their life improved.
* The mood is generally balanced. 53% of the sample consider the direction our country is moving to be wrong, while 36% appreciate this direction. Only 17% of the respondents are content with the way they live and 44% hope to live better next year.
* The media that influence on the population to the greatest extent are the television and the radio (67% and, respectively, 50% of the population use them daily). The national Moldavian television enjoys the greatest trust (66% - full trust), followed by Russian television channels (61%), the national radio (58%) and the governmental press (51%).
* Among State institutions, the President enjoys the greatest trust (63% of the respondents declared they trust in the President much and very much). Among the civil society institutions, most trust in given to the church (78%), but the media (generally) is getting more trust (54% now and 48% at the previous poll).
* In what concerns the political personalities, the number of respondents who trust is higher than the number of those who do not trust in the President (66% - 29%) and in the Prime Minister (47% - 40%). For other personalities from the list, the degree of trust is negative. The highest percentage is given to Serafim Urecheanu (33%), Eugenia Ostapciuc (30%) and Dumitru Braghis (23%). The trust in the present State authorities is expressed by the fact that 53 % of the sample consider that the present government rules the country better than the previous one. Nevertheless, being asked if they are content with what the authorities do in various fields, the respondents express dissatisfaction.
* The political parties enjoy little trust of the population. The question " Which political party is today able to contribute to overcoming the crisis?" was answered by half of the respondents none (25%) and I do not know (25%). If parliamentary elections had to be held the following Sunday, 38% of the electors would not vote or do not know whom to vote for. In these conditions, the options are focussed on the party ruling today (67%) and none other party is a real contestant (the second position is given to the Popular Christian-Democratic Party - 9% of the options). The situation is relatively the same with regard to local elections to be held on the 25-th of May, with the difference that the percentage of respondents who would not vote or do not know whom to vote for is higher - 46%.
* The options regarding the directions of international integration of the Republic of Moldova are the following: 29% prefer the NIS Commonwealth, 42% - the integration in the E.U, 16% - the adherence to the Union Russia-Belarus and 4% consider that Moldova should not join any alliance/union. Compared to last year, the opinion about the World Bank seems to be better, while the opinion about the N.I.S. Commonwealth got worse.
* 61% of the respondents do not know what a "federal state" is and 70% of them do not know which could be the advantages and the disadvantages of the federalization of the Republic of Moldova. Only 16% of the population consider as acceptable the idea of transforming the Republic of Moldova into a federal state.
* Only 2% of the respondents stated that they know almost everything about the Constitution (maximal marks - 9 and 10 - for self-evaluation). 57% of the sample have not heard about the debates on modifying the Constitution or adopting a new one. Those who have heard about these debates - 68% - consider that only some clauses of the Constitution should be modified, without adopting a new one.
* 44% of the respondents have travelled abroad and 15% declared that they had worked abroad (most of them, last time is Russia). 21% said that someone else in their family had worked abroad. 60% of the respondents who have worked abroad have done it at least twice. 68% of them have worked without having an employment contract; most of them having performed construction work (41%). Nevertheless, 50% of the population would leave the country (forever or for a while); this option was mainly expressed by 71% of young people aged 18-29.
