Photo by Pavol Svantner on Unsplash
The majority of Macedonian citizens, or 58%, believe that the country is moving in the wrong direction, 28% answered neutral, and 13% believe that Macedonia is moving in the right direction. This is shown by the data from the national survey for the period from September-October by the International Republican Institute (IRI).
Compared to November last year, the opinion that the country is going in the wrong direction has increased by 28%, while 5% of the people have changed their mind that the country is going in the right direction.
High prices are the first mention for 14% of citizens when asked what is the biggest problem facing the country today, and 17% of citizens mentioned this as the second. In addition, poverty and low standard of living were mentioned by a total of 29% of citizens, as well as 25% mentioned the economic situation.
The majority of citizens or 56%, according to the IRI survey, believe that in the next two years, the economy in Macedonia will get worse, while 30% believe that it will remain the same.
An additional 17% of people, compared to November 2021, believe that their overall quality of life is getting worse, i.e. 53%.
What the survey data shows is that 21% believe in the public prosecution, that is, 3% trust a great deal, and 18% somewhat trust. 23% of citizens believe in courts and judiciary, or 4% trust a great deal, while 19% somewhat trust.
The former Prime Minister who is granted asylum in Hungary, Nikola Gruevski is the man who is viewed as most favorable in the country, ie 7% answered so, which is an increase of 4% compared to November last year. 5% answered this for the actual Prime Minister Kovacevski, but there is no information about the past period because he is a new PM. Additionally, 38% of citizens answered "none".
19% of the citizens would vote for the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, and 11% for the ruling SDSM, which is a drop of 5%. At the same time, 6% would vote for the opposition party The Left, or an increase of 2%. There is also an increase of 4% or 21% in total among those who are undecided or who do not know.
Support for Macedonia's accession to the European Union has also fallen by 11%, with 73% in favor of the move versus 24% opposed. 22% of citizens think that Turkey helps Macedonia's national interests the most, which is an increase of 8% in almost a year.
Skopjans consider urban planning and development as a most serious problem
Approximately 26% of Skopje residents believe that urban planning and development is the most serious issue they face today.
Infrastructure, roads and streets, health, pollution, and the environment are the most serious problems facing the city according to 19% of citizens.
Citizens are more satisfied with the work of the mayor of Skopje, Danela Arsovska, than with the city council. So, 39%, of which 32% are somewhat satisfied, while 7% are very satisfied. A total of 57% of citizens are dissatisfied or very satisfied.
A total of 30% are satisfied or very satisfied with the city council, while 32% are somewhat dissatisfied and 22% are very dissatisfied.
The survey was conducted on 1,207 adults over the age of 18 between September 23 and October 13. The margin of error is estimated as +-2.8 points at a 95% confidence level.