Some 54% of the respondents of a poll carried out by the Association of Sociologists and Demographers of Moldova believe the local authorities do not cope with the set tasks. About one fourth of those polled have a differing opinion, while 23% do not have an opinion in this respect. Only one third of those surveyed are satisfied with the quality of the services provided by the local public administration, IPN reports.

Asked what difficulties hamper the provision of public services of a high quality, 44.1% of those questioned said the shortage of budgetary resources. Among other reasons mentioned are the fact that the state does not provide sufficient attention to this problem and local authorities’ indifference to the interests of the population.

Only 16% of the respondents said they managed to solve their problem when they went to the mayor’s office to seek help, 36% – solved it only partially, while each fifth respondent said they not only didn’t solve their problem, but created new problems. Some 28% of those polled never went to the mayor’s office to ask for assistance in solving their problems during the last five years.

The respondents were also asked about the administrative reform. The deputy head of the Association of Sociologists and Demographers Andrei Dumbraveanu noted that the population is not ready for the reform and is poorly informed. The people do not know the role of the local public authorities and the mechanisms and instruments used by them to develop the settlement.

If local elections were held next Sunday, 45% of those surveyed would take part in them, while 39% would probably take part. The respondents would vote as follows: 17.9% for the PSRM, 10.7% for the PCRM,  10.4% for the PL, 9.8% for the PLDM, 8.1% for the PDM, 5.9% for the “Our” Party, 5.1% for the PPE, while 2.2% for another party or an independent candidate.

The sociological study “Vox Populi – April 2015: local general elections 2015 and administrative reform in the view of the population and experts” was carried out between April 1 and April 12 on a sample of 1,179 grownups from 79 settlements of Moldova, except for the Transnistrian region. The highest margin of sampling error is 3%.