Political

On the whole, the orientation to the right and the strong centre are still slightly predominant. In this respect, no significant changes have occurred during the last six years since when we have been monitoring the self-classification of respondents on a left-right scale. The left-wing orientation is traditionally reported among pensioners, blue-collar workers, respondents with low living standards and sympathisers of the KSCM and the CSSD – the latter also make a strong presence in the middle of the scale.

Current results show that nearly two thirds of respondents (63%) take a critical view of how parties behave, of which 41% generally dislike the behaviour of parties and 22% say that the situation makes them disgusted. On the other hand, 26% of those polled are critical of some parties only and 2% of respondents express general satisfaction with how political parties behave. Compared to this January, there was a slight drop in generally critical assessments and an increase in the percentage of those respondents who are critical of some parties only.

Regularly quarterly we ask respondents about selected political personalities. Today’s list contains 23 names of politicians selected according to a long-term monitoring process and the current socio-political situation. The list features all members of the government, president and chairmen of Senate and Chamber of Deputies. At the top of the list we can find Stanislav Gross (trusted by 68% of the respondents).

In late April, a half of the electorate was determined which party to vote for, whereas roughly a quarter admitted they might change their mind. 17% said they were unlikely to vote and almost a tenth does not know. Compared to the last survey, conducted in late March and early April, the percentage of the decided voters increased by 6 points, while the number of the undecided decreased.

In the opinion of about 40% of respondents, the KSCM continues to be the most unacceptable party for our citizens. A fifth up to a fourth would never vote the ODS. The SPR-RSC is considered unacceptable by roughly a tenth of respondents.

At the end of April, the efforts of our country aimed towards the integration in the European Union were supported by 56 % of citizens, with 28 % disagreeing and 16 % not having an opinion on the matter. Although the overall attitude of the public cooled a little compared with the end of February, the support stays on a steady majority level. However, if citizens were to vote in a referendum held these days, they would act in a significantly more reserved manner.

The public is of the opinion that the ODS and the CSSD are two undisputed champions in the election, with the former being closer to victory. Somewhat fewer respondents believed in the success of the Coalition. It is widely believed that the election will not result in a change in the current state of affairs.

Within its regular survey, the Public Opinion Research Centre again focused on the level of the public’s confidence in individual constitutional institutions. The president is trusted by 51% and not trusted by 47%. In comparison with the previous survey, the level of public confidence in the head of the state has not experienced any significant developments. The government is trusted by 41% and not trusted by 56% of the respondents.

In late April, 34% of those polled said they were satisfied with the current political situation in the Czech Republic (‘very satisfied’ – 1%, ‘quite satisfied’ – 33%), whereas 60% were dissatisfied (‘quite dissatisfied’ – 45% and ‘very dissatisfied’ – 15%) and 6% did not know.

The conflicts in progress have considerably higher support with the Czech public, than those that are only in the stage of preparation. According to a half of Czech citizens an attack on Iraq would not contribute to suppressing terrorism in the world. The support for Czech participation in the upcoming conflict in Iraq was significantly lower than in case of the Afghanistan conflict.