Poll: Alliance parties and Communists in virtual tie, most Moldovans do not want early elections, 75 percent want direct election of President

The Viitorul Institute for Development and Social Initiatives and the CBS-AXA Center for Sociological Research and Marketing presented a new opinion poll today.

Data were collected between November 2 and 11 from a representative sample of the Moldovan population. The error margin of the results is three percent.

According to the findings, if early legislative elections were held next Sunday, the Party of Communists would win 33 percent of the vote, followed by the Democratic Party (14 percent), the Liberal Democratic Party (11 percent), the Liberal Party (10 percent), and the Moldova Noastra [Our Moldova] Alliance - two percent.

Eleven percent would not vote. About 19 percent were undecided.

This means that the current Alliance for European Integration, which is made up of the four non-Communist parties, would gain a combined 35 percent.

If a referendum about the direct election of the President were held, about three quarters of Moldovans would vote in favor of it, the poll said. Currently, the head of state is elected by Parliament with a 61-seat majority. Moldova directly elected its President until 2000.

The poll also said that 56 percent of Moldovans do not want early legislative elections, which will have to be organized if the legislature fails to elect a head of state on December 7. This percentage obscures some interesting phenomena, however. About 72 percent of people over 60 do not want early elections, while 56 percent of Chisinau inhabitants would be fine with this outcome. The elderly are generally supportive of the Communists, while the capital has always given a majority to the opposition.

In terms of trust, the popularity of politicians seems to be changing. Democratic Party head and presidential hopeful Marian Lupu is the most trusted politician (16.3 percent), followed by former President and Communist head Vladimir Voronin (15.8 percent), Prime Minister Vlad Filat (7.6 percent), Chisinau mayor Dorin Chirtoaca (4.9 percent), and Speaker and interim President Mihai Ghimpu (2.1 percent). Mr. Voronin used to be the most popular politician in Moldova.

The poll suggests few changes in the popularity of Moldovan parties and points to a virtual tie between the Communists and the anti-Communists. As a result, it is entirely possible that early elections could yield the same situation as today.

h/t www.comunicate.md