Shortly after the election, 38% of those polled said they were satisfied with the political situation in the Czech Republic (‘very satisfied’ – 3%, ‘quite satisfied’ – 35%), whereas 56% expressed dissatisfaction (‘quite dissatisfied’ – 43% and ‘very dissatisfied’ – 13%) and 6% did not know. Compared to a survey conducted shortly before the election, the level of satisfaction increased by 4 percentage points.

From the point of view of caring for the environment, citizens value best their local or municipal authorities (56 % well, 27 % badly). Moreover, the work of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic is appreciated (49 % good work, 37 % bad work) as well as the work of ecological organisations as a whole (46 % good work, 26 % bad work). Opinions on the ecological policy of the government are relatively level, with 39 % positive judgments and 43 % negative.

In its June survey conducted very shortly before the election to the Chamber of Deputies, the Public Opinion Research Centre investigated who would be the most acceptable prime minister. The respondents expressed their opinions on nine potential candidates for the post. Although Stanislav Gross (68%) and Petra Buzková (65%), both from the CSSD, are assessed even more positively than Vladimír Špidla, Czech citizens find Mr Špidla very acceptable – shortly before the election, a half of those polled would welcome him as the prime minister.

From the end of January onwards, the public considered the ODS and the CSSD to be the undisputed champions in the election to the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic’s Parliament – these two parties kept consolidating their position during the following months, to the detriment of the Coalition, which was for a long time, until April, the third most successful group in the election. Shortly before the election, the loss in the popularity of the Coalition meant that the party preferences equalled those of the KSCM, which long ranked fourth and whose changes were seen as very stable during the pre-election six months.

In early June, i.e. a few days before the election, over a half of voters were decided which party to vote for. Less than a fifth of voters (17%) admitted they might change their mind and the same number of respondents (18%) said they were unlikely to vote. Roughly a tenth of respondents did not know. Since this year’s first survey, conducted in late March and early April, there was a gradual increase in the number of the decided, setoff mostly by a drop in the number of those dithering.

In June, the efforts of our country aimed towards the integration in the EU were supported by 56 % of citizens, while 25 % did not agree with it and 19 % did not have an opinion. These results correspond with the long-term findings of PORC characterised by a distinctive prevalence for the support of the entry of the CZ to the EU over the opposite opinion. 7 % of respondents said that they would definitely not come to the referendum in question and 13 % would probably not come.

Just before the election, 34% of those polled said they were satisfied with the political situation in the Czech Republic (‘very satisfied’ – 1%, ‘quite satisfied’ – 33%), whereas 60% expressed dissatisfaction (‘quite dissatisfied’ – 43% and ‘very dissatisfied’ – 17%) and 6% did not know. Compared to the previous month, no statistically important change occurred. Over the course of the last 12 months, the satisfaction with the political situation has oscillated at about 30% of respondents.

When evaluating party preferences in June, the Public Opinion Research Centre employed, compared to surveys conducted in the period between elections, different methods. As was the case in late May, all respondents eligible to vote were on 5 to 12 June 2002 asked a closed question investigating which party they will vote for in the June election to the Chamber of Deputies. The respondents were shown cards with names of all political parties running in the election to the Chamber of Deputies.

The major May events included the planned election to the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic’s Parliament and the election campaign (25%). The following events are also perceived as significant: the conflict between Israel and Palestine (19%), the validity of the Beneš decrees (15%) and the visit of Laura Bush in the Czech Republic (12%). The planned election and the election campaign in particular were first perceived as significant events in March and their importance kept growing as the election date was nearing.

71% of respondents think that the Beneš Decrees should continue to be in force, 4 % stood up for their cancellation. Expulsion is considered to have been just by almost two thirds of respondents (64 %), on the other hand a total of 22 % think it unjust. Compared with last year, the share of those that considered the expulsion to have been just, went up quite distinctly (+17 percentage points), however in 1995 their number was lower by only 12 percentage points.