Poll shows Romanians are optimistic about current government

Tuesday, February 1, 2005

Bucharest, Romania —A survey by the Romanian Institute for Marketing and Polling (IMAS) shows that 64% of the country's citizens consider that things are moving in the right direction and are optimistic about the future of Romania.

Additionally, 59% consider that the current centre-right liberal government, led by Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, will do a better job than the previous social-democrat government under Adrian Năstase.

Traian Băsescu, the newly-elected Romanian president, is the country's most trusted politician, according to the IMAS poll

The surveyed people were also asked who they would vote for if an election were held now. 66% said they would choose the governing Truth and Justice Alliance, while only 19% said they would back the Social Democrats. This is one of the lowest approval rates for the Social Democrats ever, especially considering that they achieved 37% of the vote in the November legislative elections, and the Social Democrats' Adrian Năstase only narrowly lost to current president Traian Băsescu in the December run-off election, getting 48.77% of the electorate's vote.

In terms of individual politicians, Presdient Traian Băsescu has the highest approval rating, with 73% trusting him. The next most trusted is the Prime Minister, Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, of the Truth and Justice Alliance. He has an approval rating of 64%.

Perhaps shockingly, the poll shows that the far-right nationalist Great Romania Party leader, Corneliu Vadim Tudor, has an approval rating of 21%, while the interim Social Democrat leader Victor Ponta has an approval rating of only 15%.

This dramatic fall in the Social Democrats' popularity is expected to change Romanian politics significantly, considering that , after the fall of Communism in Romania, they dominated politics for most of the years up until the present.

What matters most, though, is that in Romania at present, most people trust the people which elected as their leaders, something which is crucial at a time when Romania must implement important reforms to prepare for accession to the European Union in 2007.

References

"Sondaj IMAS: românii sunt optimişti" — BBC Romanian, January 31, 2005

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