Political

Czech citizens evaluate the past electoral term of Miloš Zeman’s minor government relatively positively. The number of positive reactions concerning home and foreign policy, economy and in general ranges between 29 - 33 %. The highest level of critical reactions appeared in connection with economy (28 %), nevertheless in other fields the negative views were expressed by roughly one fifth of the respondents.

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 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.

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.

The president is trusted by 54% and not trusted by 41% of the respondents. It is possible to say that the level of confidence in the president has been stable for the period of at least two years now. The leaving government enjoyed confidence of 43% of the interviewees and was not trusted by 49%. The current evaluation of the government corresponds with the results obtained right after its formation in September 1998.

The results from early June show that 56% of respondents take a critical view of how parties behave, of which 34% generally dislike the behaviour of parties and 22% say that the situation makes them disgusted. On the other hand, 27% of those polled are critical of some parties only and 4% express general satisfaction with how political parties behave. Relative satisfaction with how parties behave has been reported among people with good living standards and supporters of the ODS and the CSSD.