Political Situation

The floods became the most significant event of early 2003, followed by the developments connected with the end of the presidential mandate of Václav Havel. The third position was taken by the planned attack of the USA and Great Britain on Iraq, the NATO Summit in Prague and the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union. These developments were closely followed by the election. The importance of foreign political events grew in January, despite the fact that the planned attack on Iraq was the only development to make it to the ‘big’ foreign and political events with a minimum of 5% reflection.

In late November and early December, 40% of those polled said they were satisfied with the current political situation in the Czech Republic (‘very satisfied’ – 2.4%, ‘quite satisfied’ – 37.5%), whereas 56% were dissatisfied (‘quite dissatisfied’ – 44.6% and ‘very dissatisfied’ – 11.8%) and 4% did not know. The satisfaction with the political situation has been gradually growing since March 2002, and has reached 40% for the first time since 1996.

The NATO Summit in Prague became the most significant event in late November and early December, with the election ranking second. These events followed: 2002 floods, end of the presidential mandate of Václav Havel and the planned attack of the USA and Great Britain on Iraq. The accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union topped the limit of monitoring again. We can anticipate that the importance of this event will continue to grow as the referendum on the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union and the accession date are nearing.

The August floods remained the most important major event reflected in late October. These events followed: elections (including senate and local elections), preparations for the presidential election, the terrorist attack in Bali and events surrounding the elusive shooter in the USA. For the first time since we began monitoring major events, the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union topped the limit of monitoring, being described as one of the most significant recent events by 10% of respondents.

The summer floods became the major recent event reflected at the end of September. These events followed, keeping a considerable distance: the government crisis, elections and the planned attack of the USA and Great Britain on Iraq. As regards domestic political events, the issue of the validity of the Beneš decrees definitely fell in importance; the significance of the elections assessed in late September was on a par with the figures measured in a May survey, three weeks prior to the parliamentary elections.

In late September, 37% of those polled said they were satisfied with the political situation in the Czech Republic (‘very satisfied’ – 2%, ‘quite satisfied’ – 35%), whereas 58% were dissatisfied (‘quite dissatisfied’ – 42% and ‘very dissatisfied’ – 16%) and 5% did not know. Compared to a survey conducted shortly after the election, no major change occurred in respect of satisfaction with the political situation.

The planned election to the Chamber of Deputies became the major event of the first half of June. These events followed, keeping a considerable distance: validity of the Beneš decrees, conflict between Palestine and Israel, tension between India and Pakistan and the terrorist attacks on the USA. In late June and early July, the planned election to the Chamber of Deputies and the post-election situation were perceived as the most important major events, the significance of which can, from a long-term perspective, be compared with the reaction to the terrorist attacks on the USA.

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.

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.

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.