Romanians’ confidence in political parties is under 50 pc, according to ‘The public opinion barometer – The truth about Romania,’ made by Inscop Research and ordered by ‘Adevarul.’ The poll was conducted during 19-27 March 2013, on a representative batch of 1,082 subjects, with a maximum error margin of +/- 3 pc and a confidence score of 95. The most trusted institutions are mayor’s offices, with 43.1 pc of the valid answers, followed by the Government (40.1 pc), County Councils (34.5 pc), Parliament (31.1 pc) and Presidency (27.6 pc). The newly included institutions are the Constitutional Court and political parties. The Constitutional Court enjoys a confidence quota of just 28.7 pc.
Political parties have the lowest confidence score, with 18.5 pc of valid answers. Inscop warns that the low confidence degree in Parliament and political parties, two institutional bases of a democratic regime, are worrying indicators that, together with the declining participation in the political life, can be a warning signal about the crisis of the Romanian democracy.The figures concerning executive institutions remain largely unchanged, such as the Army (64.3 pc of valid answers), Police (48.5 pc), the Romanian Intelligence Service (47 pc), DNA (44.2 pc). A new entry in the poll, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) enjoys a confidence quota of 47.2 pc of the total population and 50.3 pc of valid answers. Inscop explains the confidence in BNR through the fact that the public sees it as a factor of economic stability.The Church remains the most appreciated institution, with 69.1 pc of valid answers, while 49 pc oc subjects have confidence in universities. The press is credited with a confidence score of 40.2 pc of the total population and 41.9 pc of valid answers. 30.4 pc of the total population has confidence in NGOs and 26.1 pc in trade unions.
Furthermore, 46.3 pc of Romanians trust NATO and 45.5 pc the UN. Although accused by some media that it is responsible for aggravating the political crisis in Romania, the European Commission has a confidence score of 39.6 pc among total population and 45.5 pc of total valid answers.The worst seen international institution, among those included in the poll, is the International Monetary Fund (24.3 pc of the total population and 27.7 pc of valid answers), explained by the context of austerity policies blamed on the IMF.
