Experts comment on the results of fresh sociological polls
People's unity
In November 2024, the Belarusian Committee of Youth Organisations conducted an online survey, covering more than 25.6 thousand Belarusians over the age of 18. As part of the survey, respondents were asked to answer questions from an electronic questionnaire distributed through QR codes, online links on social networks and chat rooms, as well as contextual invitations on websites. The respondents are mostly young people, employees of enterprises, and representatives of the business community.
Attitudes to power: facts and conclusions
As Chairman of the Belarusian Committee of Youth Organisations Pavel Alekso reminded, this year the country’s deputy corps was renewed and the Belarusian People’s Congress was elected for the first time in the status of a constitutional body. The Head of State became its first chairman. The Presidential election is now completing the cycle of transformations envisaged by the Constitution.
“In this connection, we have studied the level of citizens’ trust in the main institutions of power under the conditions of modernisation of Belarus’ political system in line with the updated Constitution. The respondents were asked to express their opinion about their attitude to the Belarusian People’s Congress, the Chairman of the Belarusian People’s Congress, the Head of State, the Government, the Parliament and local authorities,” the Chairman of the Belarusian Committee of Youth Organisations noted in an interview with BelTA.
According to the survey, 68.2 percent of respondents trust the supreme body of the people’s power. This shows that from the very first days of its work in the new constitutional status, the Belarusian People’s Congress is already recognisable and gaining authority in society.
The level of trust in the Chairperson of the Belarusian People’s Congress, the Head of State, occupies a leading position: 86.6 percent. At the same time, as the answers to the open questions show, the high level of trust is associated with great responsibility and a wide range of strategic tasks that the President solves.
“Parliament is trusted by 70.5 percent of respondents. At the same time, a little more than a quarter found it difficult to answer the question,” Pavel Alekso said. “This indicates that the respondents have relatively recently elected their representatives to the Parliament and it is too early to talk about the results of their work. The Government is trusted by 72.8 percent of respondents while 68.7 percent of those surveyed trust local authorities. By the way, the latter are the closest to citizens. Therefore, the level of demands and critical perception of them by the population is much higher than other authorities.
According to the Belarusian Committee of Youth Organisations, 25.6 thousand Belarusians aged 18 and older took part in the online survey in November.
ACCENT
Commenting on the solid figures of the level of trust in the President of Belarus, political analyst Piotr Petrovsky emphasises, “The President in Belarus is functionally responsible for certain and extremely important spheres of our life: security, social sphere: the things without which society cannot live. At the same time, we can state that in terms of international relations, security, and economic growth (Belarus is ranked third in Europe in terms of this indicator), we demonstrate notable achievements. The Belarusian model of development is already a recognised brand, and everyone understands perfectly well that this is the achievement of the President of the Republic of Belarus personally, the result of his efforts. In fact, the Head of State has established himself as a brand that is maximally recognisable both in Belarus and the world. This is what largely explains such a high level of trust in him in the Belarusian society.”
Topical agenda
Another survey was conducted in November 2024 by the Centre for Social and Humanitarian Studies of the Belarusian State University of Economics (BSEU). Sociologists found out that the majority of Belarusians monitor the socio-political agenda. 1.5 thousand Belarusians in different regions of the country took part in the survey.
Irina Lashuk, the Head of the Department of Economic Sociology and Psychology of Entrepreneurship, Head of the Centre for Social and Humanitarian Studies at BSEU, explained to BelTA, “Today, the majority of Belarusians are not apolitical; they try to monitor the political agenda and form their own opinion. This speaks about the conscious political position of Belarusians.”
Respondents were also asked to name key values. The survey participants chose from the proposed options suitable for themselves. Peace was named by 67.7 percent of respondents, security – by 66.4 percent, identity and patriotism – by 65.3 percent.
In November 2024, 1.5 thousand Belarusians in different regions of the country took part in the survey of the BSEU Centre for Social and Humanitarian Studies.
The expert summarised,
“Today the responsibility of our people is high, they want an informed and predictable future, and they rely on their own forces and government agencies, not on foreign countries and international organisations of some incomprehensible nature.”
By Maksim Osipov
