Viktor Yuschenko’s bloc seriously outdid communists

If the election had been carried out today in Ukraine, seven parties and blocs would have got to the parliament. Two more subjects of election process still have real chances to win a victory. That could be seen in results of all-Ukrainian poll carried out by Ukrainian Razumkov Centre of Economical and Political Investigation on March 7-13, Podrobnosti reports. The leader of the poll is Viktor Yuschenko’s bloc Our Ukraine, supported by 24.1 percent of people who participated in the poll. The Communist Party is on the second place (15.6 percent of votes). Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United) gathered 8.8 percent of votes, Green Party of Ukraine – 6.2 percent, For United Ukraine bloc – 6.1 percent, Yulia Timoshenko’s bloc – 5 percent, Women for Future all-Ukrainian association – 4.5 percent. Bloc of Natalia Vitrenko (supported by 3.6 percent) and Socialist Party of Ukraine (supported by 2.7 percent) have real chances to get to the parliament. Unity bloc (leaded by Kiev mayor Alexandr Omelchenko) is being supported today by 1.1 percent of respondents, as well as Yabluko (Apple) bloc. Team of Winter Generation bloc, New Generation of Ukraine party, Communist Party of Ukraine (Renovated) and others gathered less than 1 percent each. 7.3 percent of respondents voted against all parties and blocs, while 7.4 percent hesitate with their answer. Now, no more publikation will probably appear in the press with results of such polls. According to the Election Law, 15 days before the election, mass media cannot publish ratings of the election campaign’s subjects. Though, not all sociologists agree with it. For example, Alexandr Vishnyak (Ukrainian Sociology Service) while giving an interview to ForUm, said: “According to the law, the poll cannot be carried out on the day of the election, before the election is not finished. And, of course, nobody will carry it out. But the law also reads, that mass media is forbidden to publish results of the polls. So, there is no poll at all. Public opinion cannot be learned, because nobody knows where it lives. Only the electorate can be asked. While public opinion can be studied. But ratings show neither public, nor individual opinion. And what people think about the parties, this cannot be expressed in literary language. The ratings signify only data about somebody’s intention to vote for somebody. This is a different thing. I, personally, intend, to publish results of the polls.” Recently, passions have been boiling around sociological investigations in Ukraine (let us take at least accusations against sociologists of they being prostitutes, pronounced by the head of the President’s administration, Valdimir Litvin or the assumption that with help of sociologists a coup d’etat is being prepared in Ukraine). According to the Razumkov Centre’s head, Anatoly Gritsenko, while carrying out recent sociological investigation, experts of the centre for the first time clashed with the fact of stealing results of the poll, carried out in Donetsk region. The package with the forms was stolen on the way from Donetsk to Kiev. Taking into account the fact, that these materials hardly can be interesting for usual thieves, Anatoly Gritsenko called in question fortuituousness of the incident. Spite all accusations against sociologists, the Policy Institute’s director Nikolay Tomenko said that “most of leading sociological firms for a long time working in Ukrainian sociological market confirmed their professionalism, while their corporation interests and thoughts about the future protected them from “masterminded” polls.” At least five leading sociological structures, according to Tomenko, were absolutely correct during the election campaign and did not differ from each other in the results. Among these structures, the political science professor called Socis firm, Kiev International Institute of Sociology, Gfk-USM firm (Ukrainian researches and investigations of the market), Ukrainian Razumkov Centre of Economical and Political Investigation and Social Monitoring Centre.

Andrei Lubenski PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/03/14/38238.html