Press releases

The problems in question are considered by an absolute majority of respondents to be very or quite serious. As the largest threat they see pollution of sources of drinking water and its shortage; moreover the problem of waste cumulating is similarly seen as serious. These phenomena, directly connected with every day life are perceived by 55% - 56% of respondents as extremely important and by another third as considerably important.

The pre-November 1989 political system scored an average rating of 3.82 among respondents. They used an evaluating scale from 1 (the system is functioning very poorly) to 10 (the system is functioning very well). Compared to the pre-November political system, the current system in the Czech Republic fared slightly better, getting an average rating of 4.89. The respondents were also optimistic about the future – the political system they are expecting in the Czech Republic in 10-years time received a rating of 6.

Compared to the pre-election period, post-election political, economic and general expectations of citizens were somewhat more pessimistic following the announcement of the final election results. This shift stems from the absolutely clear post-election disappointment among supporters of the ODS, 90% of whom expected the victory of their party and therefore took a very positive view of the post-election development.

In its post-election survey, the Public Opinion Research Centre posed a few questions examining the decision-making process of voters. More than a fifth of voters made their decision to vote shortly before the election. A further 11% say to have made their decision in the course of May, i.e. approximately a month before the election. An overwhelming majority of voters - 62% - decided (not) to vote well in advance.

The experience of having a car broken into has been acquired by 17% of respondents or other members of the household within the last 12 months. Thefts up to the value of CZK 3,000 (16 %) are also quite common. Approximately every tenth respondent disclosed that a bribe had been demanded from him or another member of the household (11 %), the sum of items of a value exceeding CZK 3,000 (10 %) had been stolen from him, or his cottage or chalet had been burgled (9 %).

The self-classification on a seven-point left-right scale has long been relatively stable. People consistently tend to declare their support for the right (35% in the last poll) and the centre (30%) and not to put themselves in the left section of the political spectrum thus divided (23%). In this respect, no major changes occurred prior to the June election to the Chamber of Deputies that marked a pronounced shift in voter support to the left-oriented political parties.

In its post-election survey, the Public Opinion Research Centre, inter alia, on shifts in voter support. This print information is based on a comparison between the real decisions of respondents in the recent election and responses about which party they voted in the June 1998 election to the Chamber of Deputies. Our findings indicate that over a tenth (11%) of those who now voted for the KSCM, had supported the CSSD in the previous election.

Four fifths (79 %) of the respondents agree with the opinion that deputies should above all follow the programme, with which their party went to the elections. However, at the same time 69 % of the interviewees expressed the view that deputies in the Chamber of Deputies should above all promote the interests of regions, where they had been elected. 73 % of citizens think that deputies should have some previous experience with local or regional government.

Respondents see the behaviour of firms and enterprises towards the environment as definitely the worst (82 % “bad”). It is followed by the situation of sanctioning those harming the environment and the non-ecological behaviour of the population–both are criticised by about three quarters of respondents. Approximately two thirds (68 %) see the extent of logging in this country as excessive. Moreover, almost two thirds (63 %) consider appropriation of natural areas during constructions to be too large.

In late June and early July, the Public Opinion Research Centre focused on citizen satisfaction with the results of the election to the Chamber of Deputies. Over a quarter (28%) of respondents expressed that they were roughly half satisfied with the results. As regards those who provided a more exact opinion, the satisfied outweighed the dissatisfied in a ratio of 31% to 25%. 16% of respondents were unable to answer.