The majority of surveyed citizens believe that Montenegro is going down the wrong path, and their trust in the Parliament, the Government and the President is at the bottom of the scale.
Of the institutions, citizens trust the Montenegrin Orthodox Church and political parties the least, while the education system, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the health system are at the top.
These are the data of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM), which conducted a survey from July 1 to 13 on a sample of 1002 respondents.
According to the same survey, the best-rated politician is DPS leader Milo Đukanović, followed by Aleksa Bečić (Democrats), but they are also poorly evaluated and their ratings among citizens are falling. A general decline in trust in institutions, parties, and politicians is a characteristic of the research. Milena Bešić, the director of CDEM, explained to "Vijesti" that the resignation of citizens is a consequence of the affairs that have rocked Montenegro in recent months, the lack of trust in politicians who do not deal with issues that directly concern citizens, but also changes in the law - such as the one on religious communities.
44,8 percent of citizens believe that Montenegro has taken the wrong path, while 30 percent say that it is the right one.
Since 2010, the number of those who state that the country is going in the right direction has been decreasing. In September 2012, (dis)trust almost merged - until June 2017, when the number of those who believe that the road is wrong increases drastically (38,9 percent). The negative trend continued until July of this year.
There is a similar trend with the work of the Government, because citizens were most satisfied with its work in 2010/2011, that is, during the mandate of Prime Minister Milo Đukanović (2010) and Igor Lukšić (2011), when almost 60 percent were in favor of the work of the executive power at the state level. A pronounced downward trend began in June 2017 - when it was 28,3, up to 28,8 percent in July of this year.
When it comes to institutions, 52 percent trust the education system, 47,8 percent the SPC, then health care - 44,7 percent. They are followed by the police (41,7), the EU Delegation (40,9), and the judiciary (40,8 percent). They are followed by the army, NGOs, NATO, the president, the Parliament, the Government, political parties, the CPC. Compared to December last year, confidence in the Army only increased by 2,4 percent.
"At the time of the research, the president of the Supreme Court had not yet been elected for the third time, so that did not affect trust in the judiciary and the judiciary, but at that moment the verdict for the "coup d'état" was passed, and there was also the envelope affair," Bešić said. . She explains that trust in politicians was not analyzed in the research, but that they were evaluated by politically committed citizens.
Thus, the president of the state and the leader of the DPS got a rating of 2,44, Aleksa Bečić (Democrat) 2,31, Prime Minister Duško Marković 2,25, Minister of Education Damir Šehović 2,18 - to the bottom with businessmen Daka Davidović and Duško Knežević who associate with the opposition.
According to the survey data, DPS has the support of 34 percent of committed voters, DF- 15,6, Democrats a percentage less compared to them. They are followed by SNP, SD, URA, BS, SDP.
DPS and the Democrats recorded a drop in support, while DF and URA, to some extent SD, BS, Prava Crna Gore and Demos saw an increase. Other parties are mostly on the same level.
The spokesman of the Bosniak Party, Sead Šahman, says that "the growth of trust in BS is evident, which further convinces us that we are implementing the policies we offered and promised to our voters in the best possible way."
DPS and SDP were not ready to comment on the results, while DF and the Democrats do not believe in the research.
DF MP Jovan Vučurović told "Vijesta" that "CEDEM continues to mislead the public with rigged polls, and everything according to the wishes of the DPS and the criminal regime."
"It is obvious that the spinning of public opinion continues and that, as usual, the first victim of these frauds is the Democratic Front, as the most dangerous opponent of DPS. It is a futile attempt to relativize the obvious and intensive growth of DF, and to cover up the "free fall" of DPS. Therefore, today's advertising by CEDEM was solely for the purpose of stopping the decline in the ratings of DPS and the president of that party. But one thing is certain - this kind of fake survey and rigged research cannot hide the fact that an increasing number of citizens align themselves with the Democratic Front and the policy of courage, determination, change, uncompromising fight against the regime and a better life for citizens", he states.
Boris Bogdanović (Democrats) claims that their regular monthly surveys are completely different from the one presented by CEDEM. "If the intention was to mitigate the decline of the DPS by "lowering" the strongest opposition party, it was done rather unconvincingly. After all, it's been a long time since a survey had so much illogicality, as mentioned, which anyone who follows public opinion surveys can be convinced of, not only in the part of the rating of parties and politicians, but also in other issues.
After all, it's the tourist season, so maybe the answers were given by tourists, and not citizens of Montenegro... After all, the time ahead will best show how much this is based on facts and how much on someone's wish lists," said Bogdanović.
Bešićeva: Citizens expect politicians to deal with life issues
Milena Bešić says that there is a general resignation of citizens that happens after political affairs and civil protests. "There is a general decline in confidence that has continued since December 20018, including institutions that are not exclusively connected to the government. Also, politicians get very low marks, because on a scale from 1 to 5, the best mark, which Djukanovic gets, only reaches 2,44. In the last survey, citizens pointed out why this is so - they expect politicians to deal more with issues important to life", says the director of CEDEM.
HURRY: Never weaker DPS
"The most important indicator of the research is the never-lower rating of DPS. All the affairs that surfaced and the protests that took place evidently took their toll. Perhaps the most important element of the research is that more and more citizens are slowly abandoning the restraints imposed on them by thirty years of unchanged government. However, it is important to point out that the research should be read as relative, not falling for a possible political calculation that is often hidden behind the commission of the research. This should not be a signal to the opposition to rush to the elections, but we must all continue our mission of creating strong pressure on the government in order to achieve the opportunity for a fair and democratic declaration. If that happens, the DPS will not even have the mentioned 34 percent, said Mileta Radovanić (URA).
Declining support for the EU, but it is still the mainstay
Support for the European Union is also on the decline - the poll shows. From 72,4 percent in October 2007, it was 2016 percent in December 63, 2018 percent in March 67,9, and 58 percent in July this year. In general, interest in NATO has also decreased. which Bešić explains by the fact that the Euro-Atlantic process is taking too long in Montenegro.
When asked who Montenegro should rely on in foreign policy, the majority of respondents think that it is the EU (21,4 percent), for 15,4 percent it is the USA, and 13,1 respondents are for Russia. Compared to December 2018, the degree of reliance on the EU, USA and Russia has increased.
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