Largest part of population does not feel safe in Moldova

81% of the adult population of Moldova does not feel safe in the country, while over 50% of the Moldovans do not feel protected by the institutions that must insure public order and peace in the society, says the Public Opinion Barometer for October 2008 presented by the Public Policy Institute, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the survey, 45% of the population feels moderately safe, 28% - to a small extent, while 8% - do not feel safe at all. “This thing should worry the state and the institutions designed to protect the people,” the Institute’s executive director Arcadie Barbarosie said. The survey shows that 68% of the respondents do not feel protected by the police, 59% - by the court, 56% - by the prosecutor’s office, 53% - by the Security and Information Service and 51% - by the army. The fact that the population feels unsafe in Moldova is determined by the high level of corruption, the survey authors say. 65% of those questioned said that the people in Moldova cannot run a business without having to offer bribe to civil servants. About 57% of the respondents said that practically all or most of the politicians in Moldova are corrupt. The corrupt politician is most often associated with a person that takes bribe (49%), appropriates public funds (29%), promotes his own interests (23%) and misuses the authority (18%). Almost each fourth respondent considers that the senior authorities did not take the necessary steps to alleviate the effects of drought. In general, about 51% of the population considers that things in Moldova go in the wrong direction. Over three fourths of the population continues to be dissatisfied with the government’s activity in the key areas of the social life: salaries (85%), workplaces (84%), living standards (85%), agriculture (78%), medical assistance (75%), corruption fighting (73%), industry (73%), pensions (70%). The survey was carried out between September 26 and October 20, 2008 and covered a sample of 1,100 persons older than 18 from 76 settlements, except the Transnistrian region. The margin of sampling error is ±3%. The research was organized by the Public Policy Institute with assistance from Soros Moldova Foundation. It was conducted by the Center of Sociological, Politological and Psychological Investigations and Analysis (Civis) and verified by the research institute Magenta Consulting.