Yuschenko most popular in 2000

RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report

KYIV - A poll by the Oleksander Razumkov Ukrainian Center of Economic and Political Studies conducted between January 22 and February 2 among 2,000 adult Ukrainians found that Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko was the most popular Ukrainian politician in 2000 (32.5 percent of respondents mentioned his name).

President Leonid Kuchma obtained 14 percent backing.

Other results were: Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz, 5.8 percent; Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko, 5.8 percent; Fatherland Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko, 2.8 percent; Progressive Socialist Party leader Natalia Vitrenko, 1.9 percent; former President Leonid Kravchuk, 1.7 percent; former Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk, 1.3 percent; National Deputy Hryhorii Surkis, 1 percent.

The popularity rating of other politicians was below 1 percent.

The center also found that 88.6 percent of respondents have heard about the country's bugging scandal - 60.5 percent of them are dissatisfied with how the scandal is presented in the media; 53.6 percent believe the authorities will do everything to make people forget this scandal as soon as possible; 25 percent think the political regime will become even more repressive; and only 14.1 percent believe the authorities will conduct an objective investigation into the bugging case.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 4, 2001, No. 9, Vol. LXIX

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