Decentralisation is Poroshenko's biggest reform success - poll

Decentralisation is  Poroshenko's biggest reform success - poll
Ukrainians are unhappy with the president, but pleased with regional governments / bne IntelliNews Ben Aris
By bne IntelliNews March 23, 2018

Decentralisation has been the one of the biggest reform successes of the President Petro Poroshenko administration, according to the results of a poll by the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research released on March 22.

There is a gradual increase in economic optimism and continued improvements in the local outlook, even if polls at the national level are marred by pessimism and displeasure with the effectiveness of the national government and president. Concerns over nationwide corruption in particular remain high.

“As the fourth ‘megapoll’ in our series, this data demonstrates a clear trend of optimism in Ukraine’s cities, both on the economic front and within the cities themselves,” said IRI Regional Director Stephen Nix in IRI fourth annual nationwide municipal survey, drawing from a sample of more than 19,000 residents of 24 cities across Ukraine, including Mariupol and Severodonetsk in the Donbas region. “This demonstrates that commitment to reforms such as decentralization are having a positive impact on the country, and represent an important development in Ukraine’s democratic journey.”

Twenty-three out of 24 cities believe that the economic situation in Ukraine has improved over the past 12 months. Additionally, in all 24 cities surveyed, citizens reported improvements in the economic situation of their households.

These results stand in stark contrast to a recent poll that found Poroshenko’s personal popularity has crashed and that of his eponymous party is doing even worse.

Of decided voters planning to vote in the March 2019 presidential elections, 24.6% said they will vote for pro-EU populist Yulia Tymoshenko, 15.5% for pro-EU populist Oleh Liashko, 12.5% for pro-EU reformer Anatoliy Grytsenko, and only 9.8% for Poroshenko. His support has steadily collapsed from 18.3% in September and 16.9% in December.

Even the IRI poll found that a clear majority of citizens feel that Ukraine as a country is headed in the wrong direction, rates of satisfaction with local government are far higher. For example, in the city of Vinnytsia, 65% of respondents say that their city is headed in the right direction, while 57% believe that Ukraine is going in the wrong direction.

Corruption remains a key issue for Ukrainian citizens, who singled out medical and educational institutions as particularly problematic. An average of 12% of respondents report paying bribes to educational institutions in the past two years, while an average of 27% have paid bribes to medical institutions in the past two years. The poll also indicates that support for European integration remains strong, with a majority of citizens in 17 out of 24 cities expressing support for Ukraine joining the European Union.

The margin of error for each city does not exceed plus or minus 3.5%. The average response rate is 64.8%. This survey was funded by the National Endowment for Democracy. The previous three surveys were funded by the Government of Canada.

Data

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