RSS
Over 80 pct of Romanians report not having suffered under Communism (poll)
An opinion poll conducted jointly by the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of Romanian Exile (IICCMER) and the Center for Opinion and Market Studies (CSOP) found that 83 pct of the Romanians did not suffer, personally or as witness to a relative's oppression, under Communism, while 3 pct reported having suffered under the regime.
The respondents in the poll, which was presented on Thursday, December 9, in a press conference, indicated material deprivation as the major sufferance in those times - 28 pct; followed by restricted freedom of expression - 24 pct; professional discrimination on social and political criteria - 23 pct; limitation on religious freedom - 18 pct; arrest - 18 pct.
Access to the files of the former political police Securitate is considered less or not at all important by 49 pct, whereas 40 pct said it is important or very important. As far as the enactment of a Lustration Law is concerned - 52 pct of the respondents said it is less or not at all important and 31 pct said it was important.
The effects of lustration are considered positive by 26 pct of the respondents, whereas 24 pct believe that it will have no effect whatsoever. A relatively high percentage of 40 pct did not know or did not want to answer this question. As for the grant of state compensations to the victims of the communist regime, 48 pct of the surveyed consider that they should be disbursed, 27 pct said it's not the case and 25 pct did not respond at all.
According to Agerpres, as many as 80 pct of the polled said they were not members of the Romanian Communist Party, 94 pct said they did not cover party leadership positions, and 96 pct said they never worked for the Securitate.
The survey represents the second phase of the partnership between ICCMER and CSOP, which is aimed at developing a strategy of public policies for a democratic education based on knowledge and assuming the communist past. The opinion poll - conducted between October 22 and November 1, 2010 - is nationwide representative, carrying an estimated error margin of plus minus 3 pct; 1,123 people aged over 15 were surveyed.