MINSK, 16 December (BelTA) – About 44% of the Belarusians support the president's initiatives meant to preserve sovereignty and independence of the country according to the large-scale sociological research “Belarus. A vision of the future”. Sergei Musiyenko, Director of the think tank EcooM, told reporters about results of the opinion poll, BelTA has learned.
The following initiatives of the president of the Republic of Belarus enjoy the strongest support: preservation of the sovereignty and independence of Belarus (43.7%), support for large families (38.7%), housing policy (31.8%), efforts to enhance the country's defensive capability (27.6%), further integration of Belarus with Russia within the framework of the Union State of Belarus and Russia (24.8%), patriotic education of youth (23.6%), amendments to the Constitution (19.9%), reform of the pension system (17.3%), changes in university admission rules (9.7%). As little as 5.1% of those polled support no initiatives of the president. Sergei Musiyenko said: “It is a lot of food for thought. But the plot is positive as a whole.”
In a bid to provide sociological support for the upcoming referendum, the Sociology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in association with the EcooM think tank conducted the large-scale opinion poll “Belarus. A vision of the future” from 15 November through 4 December 2021. Researchers polled 10,217 respondents focusing on economically active population. The sampling was multi-stage, stratified by region and type of settlement, and included sex and age quotas. The study covered all the regions of Belarus, Minsk, 52 districts (including 9 districts of the capital city), almost 350 organizations and enterprises in various sectors and of different forms of ownership.
Citizens demonstrated a strong interest in the survey. Most of them welcomed the interest of sociologists in their views and assessments. The people perceived the survey as an opportunity to convey their opinion about the current processes and the future of the country. Citizens spoke in favor of more frequent sociological researches like that. During a lively discussion with pollsters the respondents mentioned problems relating to water supply, construction of social and leisure infrastructure facilities, quality and accessibility of medical care, and other issues. All requests and complaints were documented and submitted to the local authorities.
