Poll: Third of Slovaks Believe Life Would Be Better If Communism Had Survived

Bratislava, 14 November (TASR) - One-third of Slovaks believe that life today would be better if communism hadn't fallen in 1989, while 41 percent of the population said the opposite, with 26 percent undecided, according to a Focus agency poll conducted on behalf of the 360tka news website. The response that life would be better under communism prevailed among voters of coalition parties Smer-SD and Voice-SD, as well as among voters of extra-parliamentary parties Republic and the Hungarian Alliance. Among Smer-SD voters, 55 percent chose 'better', while 32 percent chose 'worse'. In the case of Voice-SD, communism was favoured by 42 percent, with 34 percent of respondents holding the opposing view. Conversely, voters of the governing Slovak National Party (SNS) and the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS), Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), Christian Democrats (KDH) and 'Slovakia' party lean more toward the view that life under communism would be worse. Among PS voters, 77 percent chose 'worse', while 11 percent disagreed. For SaS, 73 percent of the respondents said 'worse' and 6 percent chose 'better'. In the case of KDH, 'Slovakia' and SNS, over 40 percent of their voters believe that life under communism would be worse. Voters of the extra-parliamentary Democrats party tended to hold a similar view. The responses also varied according to age. Only 7 percent of young people aged under 24 would prefer communism, compared with 48 percent of those aged over 65. The poll was conducted from October 13 to 21 on a sample of 1,028 respondents. jrg/df