English

Forty-nine percent of Belarusians trust Lukashenka, poll suggests

 

The proportion of Belarusians who trust Alyaksandr Lukashenka rose from 43 percent in March to 49 percent this past June, the Vilnius-based Independent Institute for Social, Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS) said with reference to its most recent survey.

The percentage of those who do not trust Mr. Lukashenka fell from 43 percent to 40.6 percent.

Slightly more than 37 percent said that they would vote for Mr. Lukashenka in a new presidential election, up from 31.5 percent in December 2012 and 33.4 percent this past March.

The share of Belarusians pinning their hopes of economic development on Mr. Lukashenka decreased from 49 percent in 1994 and 37.4 percent in 2008 to 34 percent in June. Nearly 52 percent said that they expected economic development to be driven by the attraction of foreign capital.

The share of Belarusians describing the country's top government officials as a "good team of politicians leading the country down the right track" fell from 17 percent in March 2009 to 13.4 percent this past June.

Forty-four percent said that top government officials were "people concerned only about their well-being and career," while 15 percent described them as "honest but weak people." Fourteen more percent described them as "honest but incompetent people who don't know how to steer the country out of the economic crisis."

Only 3.7 percent said that the government's policy was based on the interests of millions of Belarus' citizens rather than the "elite's interests." Forty-five percent said that the Belarusian state did not do enough to defend their interests, while 15 percent said they mistrusted the state altogether. //BelaPAN