OPINION POLL SHOWS MILOSEVIC MORE POPULAR IN SERBIA THAN PREMIER
BBC Monitoring International Reports - April 22, 2005
Excerpt from report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet
Belgrade, 21 April: Results of a poll done by the Faktor Plus agency regarding
the rating of political parties and politicians have drawn attention to two
things the political rise of Cedomir Jovanovic's Liberal Democratic Fraction [of
the Democratic Party] and the rise in popularity of Slobodan Milosevic, whose
rating is for the first time above the rating of Prime Minister Vojislav
Kostunica.
Political analyst Petar Manic today explained the rise in popularity of Slobodan
Milosevic as an attempt to return to the past and as a great disillusion when it
comes to the current leadership.
According to the Faktor Plus agency poll, which is based on interviewing 1,200
citizens of Serbia, the deputy chairman of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS),
Tomislav Nikolic, is the most popular politician, while the Democratic Party
(DS) chairman, Serbian President Boris Tadic, is slightly less popular.
Milosevic ranks third on the list, thereby beating leaders of the so-called
democratic bloc for the first time.
When it comes to political parties, the ranking is more or less the same, except
for Bogoljub Karic's Strength of Serbia movement [PSS] ranking third here, after
the SRS and DS.
On the other hand, according to the poll, almost one third of those interviewed
would like to see Karic as Serbian premier, which is more than in the case of
either Nikolic or Tadic.
[Passage omitted: more on the same]
The poll showed a further drop in the ratings of the army, police and the
Serbian Orthodox Church. It was said that 40% of respondents believed that only
those who supported the current leadership enjoyed freedom of the press, which,
according to Manic, was worrisome.
Manic assessed that the poll had shown a significant decrease in the interest
for politics and a rise in the interest for social and economic issues, adding
that the most positive thing was that around 70% of respondents saw
Serbia-Montenegro joining the European Union and [NATO-led] Partnership for
Peace in a positive light.
Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1320 gmt 22 Apr 05
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