A nationwide public opinion poll conducted by the Ukrainian Institute of Social Research on Oct. 7-15 among 2,117 respondents over 18 years old revealed that most Ukrainians think the parliamentary elections will be rigged. Last Friday in Kyiv the institute’s director, Olha Balakireva, announced that 18 percent of respondents are certain that the elections will be rigged, while 40 percent believe that the elections will probably be rigged. At the same time, 19 percent think that rigging is unlikely and only 5 percent are certain they won’t be.
The results of the poll indicate the following breakdown in the ratings of political forces as of mid-October: 20 percent are ready to vote for the Party of Regions, 13.8 percent for Yuliya Tymoshenko’s Bloc, and 12.3 percent for Our Ukraine. In addition, 8.9 percent of respondents would vote for the Socialist Party, 6.7 percent for the Communist Party, 5.2 percent for Volodymyr Lytvyn’s People’s Bloc, and 3 percent for Natalia Vitrenko’s Bloc. Meanwhile, sociologists have advised former president Leonid Kuchma not to run for a parliamentary seat because only 1 percent of those polled said they would support the Kuchma-led bloc (if one were created) and 1 percent said they would probably support it.
Two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents are sure they will take part in the elections and 17 percent think they will probably vote. Eleven percent of respondents probably or definitely will not to go to the polls, while 6 percent of respondents are not sure. Balakireva emphasized that the highest level of political activity is in the western regions, like before: 84 percent of respondents will definitely vote compared to 56 percent in the Crimea and 59 percent in the east and in Kyiv.
Among the officials representing different branches of the government, President Viktor Yushchenko enjoys the highest confidence of the people: 44 percent of respondents basically trust him, and 48 percent basically do not trust him.
