Czechs for first time trusting more cabinet than president - poll

Prime Minister Jan Fischer's interim government is trusted by 71 percent of Czechs, while President Vaclav Klaus by 68 percent.

The poll also found that only 8 percent of Czechs are satisfied with the political situation.

Dissatisfaction was voiced by 63 percent of those polled and over one-quarter is neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

Klaus has been among the most trustworthy constitutional officials in the long run, being popular with some two-fifths to two-thirds of Czechs.

By end September alone, public trust in him rose by 7 percent to the current 68 percent.

Well-off people and voters of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) tend to trust both the government and Klaus, while the former is also often trusted by people with higher education.

CVVM pollster Daniel Kunstat has confirmed to CTK that it was for the first time since November 1989 that the general public trusts the government more than the president.

The poll also found that most Czechs trust local town halls. The 58-percent trust was the same as in early September and 3 percent higher than in late September.

Regional assemblies are trusted by 41 percent of Czechs, 3 percent more than in late September.

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, the two houses of the Czech parliament, are steadily the least trustworthy public institutions. The former was trusted by about 20 percent, which was 6 percent more than in late September, the latter by 22 percent, 4 percent more than two months ago.

The strongest endorsement came from the well-off people and voters of the ODS.

People with bad living standards, voters of the Communists and in the case of the Senate the elderly tend to be quite critical of the two parts of parliament.

Big dissatisfaction with political situation has been typical of this year. Roughly three-fifths of Czechs have been dissatisfied with it since the beginning of the year.

However, compared with the end of September, dissatisfaction has fallen from 69 to 63 percent.

The poll was conducted on a sample of 1082 Czechs over 15 on November 2-9.

Autor: ČTK
www.ctk.cz