Source: Tanjug

BELGRADE — A new survey carried out by the U.S. NGO NDI and CeSID showed that only 30 percent of Serbian citizens believe that democracy is the best type of government.

CeSID’s Program Director Đorđe Vuković presented the results on Wednesday to say the poll was carried out shortly before the parliamentary elections, and noted that seven years ago the number of those who favored democracy and those who saw advantages in other political systems was equal.

“Today, half believe that democracy itself is not attractive per se, and that there are other systems that could suit Serbia. The most common answer is, ‘the system I live in does not matter, what matters is that I have enough money’,” said Vuković.

In accordance with this attitude is the stance toward the October 2000 changes, when the regime of Slobodan Milošević was ousted. An overwhelming majority now thinks that this was “the beginning of Serbia’s decline” while only 15 percent believe that it was the beginning of “a democratic transformation.”

The survey also obtained responses “which could explain the convincing success of the Serb Progressive Party in the last election.”

Vuković interpreted the answers given by respondents to say that before the election the party recorded the highest degree of trust among its traditional voters, but was also supported by a significant percentage of those who previously voted for the Democratic Party, the Socialist Party of Serbia and others, as well as a large number of those who did not vote in previous elections.

However, from the standpoint of attitudes towards democracy and elections as a democratic achievement, the presentation heard that “the most telling is the fact that a majority of respondents would like changes to the electoral system to move towards personalization, that is, toward the possibility that people vote for individuals rather than political parties.”