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IRES survey: Over half of Romanians believe 'it was better' before 1989
More than half of the Romanians think there 'were better times' before 1989 than the ones at present, reveals a survey conducted by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES) on Monday.
When answering the question 'do you think it was better or worse before 1989?' 57 percent of the respondents said it was better, 21 percent worse, 15 percent - the same, 5 percent - do not know, 2 percent- do not answer.
The percentage visibly changes around the question 'If you think retrospectively, do you believe that before 1989 the living was better or worse?' Thus, 54 percent said they used to live better before 1989, 16 percent - 'worse', 17 percent - 'the same'.
Almost 56.4 percent of the respondents in the rural areas said they were living a better life before 1989, while 52.3 percent of the urban residents gave similar answers. Also, 13.7 percent of the people in the rural areas said they were living worse before 1989, while 17.9 percent of the urban respondents said they were living worse before 1989.
Half of the people interviewed (52 percent) believe the historians and the analysts do not relate correctly and objectively to the communist era of the Socialist Republic of Romania, 28 percent say the opposite, 18 percent - do not know, while 2 percent do not answer.
Generally, 57 percent of the respondents claim they talk about the era before 1989 both in negative and positive terms, 37 percent - in positive terms, 5 percent - in negative terms, while 1 percent does not answer.The survey also reveals that overall, 67 percent of the respondents discuss with their families about the era before 1989, while 33 percent do not.
Nicolae Ceausescu would win 41pct of votes if running for Romania's Presidency today
Late communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu would win 41 percent of the vote if he were alive today and running for Romania's Presidency against today's politicians or political leaders, reveal findings of a recent poll conducted by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES).
The poll shows that 41 percent of Romanians would vote for Nicolae Ceausescu, 52 would not vote for him; 5 percent would be undecided and 1 percent did not answer. More than half of the respondents (57 percent) believe the communist parties should not be banned by law; 30 percent that they should be banned; 12 percent did not know and 1 percent did not answer.
Out of the respondents saying the communist parties should not be banned, 64.1 percent are from urban areas, 50.4 from rural areas; 63.3 percent are male and 52.1 percent female; 51.9 percent are from the western and central provinces of Transylvania and Banat, 63.5 percent from Bucharest City and the south-eastern province of Dobrogea and 54.4 percent from the north-eastern province of Moldavia.
Out of the 30 percent of the respondents who believe the communist parties should be banned, 25.8 percent are from urban areas and 34.1 percent form rural areas; 29.7 percent are male and 30.1 percent female; 34.2 percent are from the western and central provinces of Transylvania and Banat, 26 percent from Bucharest City and the south-eastern province of Dobrogea and 30.2 percent from the north-eastern province of Moldavia.
As many as 69 percent of the respondents said they were not members of the Romanian Communist Party; 30 percent said they were, and 1 percent did not answer.
In the opinion of 49 percent of the respondents, Ceausescu was a good leader; 15 percent said he was a bad leader, 30 percent said he was neither good nor bad, 3 percent did not know and 1 percent did not answer.
The late dictator is seen as a good leader by 51 percent of the Romanian males and 48.1 percent of the Romanian females, and bad by 19.9 percent males and 11.1 percent females. Out of the respondents who said Ceausescu was a good leader are from rural areas and 42.8 percent from urban areas. Out of the respondents who said Ceausescu was a bad leader 18.9 percent are from urban areas and 11.5 percent from rural areas.
On the other hand, Ceausescu's wife Elena Ceausescu is seen as a bad leader by 67 percent of the respondents. She is seen as neither good nor bad by 15 percent of the respondents, while only 9 percent of the respondents said she was a good leader, 7 percent did not know and 2 percent did not answer.
Nevertheless, 57 percent of the respondents said they do not regret the collapse of communism, while 37 percent said they regret and 5 percent did not answer.
The poll was conducted July 21-23 on a sample of 1,460 people aged 18 and above. It has a margin error of plusminus 2.7 percent, Agerpres informs.