Poll: Serbians unsure who runs their country

A new poll shows that as many as 81 percent of Serbians believe they lived best in the former Yugoslavia -"during the time of socialism". The survey focused on the respondents' views on the transition "from socialism to capitalism", and a majority said they trusted social institutions the most during the rule of the life-long Yugoslav communist president Josip Broz Tito. Poll: Serbians unsure who runs their country In terms of the standard of living, the time of Tito's rule from the Second World War to the 1980s was assessed as best, whereas the Milosevic decade of the 1990s, and the subsequent decade since the fall of his regime are seen as "more or less the same". 45 percent said they trusted social institutions the most during the rule of Josip Broz, followed by 23 percent who chose the 2001-2003 period when Zoran Djindjic was the prime minister. Only 19 percent of those interviewed trust present-day institutions. According to the poll coordinator Srecko Mihailovic, "what seems to be the worst" in the answers is that 23 percent of respondents think that Serbia is governed by criminals, 18 percent believe that the country is run by the president, the government and parliament, the same percentage believe that the country is run by owners of large companies, while 12 percent think that Serbia is ruled by "the international community". By saying that life was better in socialism than it is now, the Serbian citizens primarily refer to better economic situation and standard of living, but the majority of them would not go back to that period. Mihailovic said that similar results were obtained in other post-communist countries, as well as in some post-dictatorship regimes, adding that there are various reasons for this. The poll was conducted by the Center for Social Democratic Studies (CSSD), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung foundation and Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) in September of this year and it included 1,813 respondents.

Poll: Serbians unsure who runs their country

In terms of the standard of living, the time of Tito's rule from the Second World War to the 1980s was assessed as best, whereas the Milošević decade of the 1990s, and the subsequent decade since the fall of his regime are seen as "more or less the same".

45 percent said they trusted social institutions the most during the rule of Josip Broz, followed by 23 percent who chose the 2001-2003 period when Zoran Đinđić was the prime minister. Only 19 percent of those interviewed trust present-day institutions.

According to the poll coordinator Srećko Mihailović, "what seems to be the worst" in the answers is that 23 percent of respondents think that Serbia is governed by criminals, 18 percent believe that the country is run by the president, the government and parliament, the same percentage believe that the country is run by owners of large companies, while 12 percent think that Serbia is ruled by "the international community".

By saying that life was better in socialism than it is now, the Serbian citizens primarily refer to better economic situation and standard of living, but the majority of them would not go back to that period.

Mihailović said that similar results were obtained in other post-communist countries, as well as in some post-dictatorship regimes, adding that there are various reasons for this.

The poll was conducted by the Center for Social Democratic Studies (CSSD), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung foundation and Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) in September of this year and it included 1,813 respondents.