The former leader of the Party of Socialists Igor Dodon enjoys the greatest trust among the respondents of a poll carried out in Taraclia and Gagauzia – 30.4%. President Maia Sandu is trusted by 3.8% of those polled, while the leader of Șor Party Ilan Șor by 3.5%. Another 45.2% of those surveyed said they do not trust anyone, shows a poll conducted by the Institute for Public Policy (IPP) in partnership with CBS Research that was presented in a news conference at IPN.

Bashkan Irina Vlah Cel is the most popular politician in Gagauzia. The mayor of Taraclia Veaceslav Lupov and the head of Taraclia district Ivan Pîslari have the highest popular approval ratings in Taraclia. According to sociologist Vasile Cantarji, of CBS Research, a crisis of political offers is witnessed because most of the respondents, as at national level, said that they do not trust anyone.

About one third of those surveyed said they are concerned with national or local politics. The church enjoys the greats trust, being followed, at a great distance, by the mayor’s office, the police and the army. The political parties, the judiciary and NGOs are trusted the least, as at national level.

According to Vasile Cantarji, the linguistic and media situation leads to the concentration of political preferences and this was evident in elections too. Among the parties that represent the interests of Gagauzia or Taraclia the best, the respondents mentioned the Party of Socialists, followed by Șor Party and the Party of Communists. The Party of Action and Solidarity is ranked fourth. 22% of those interviewed said that no party represents their interests.

Asked what political system seems better to them, 56.4% of those polled chose the Soviet system of the 1990s, 16.2% mentioned the current system of the Russian Federation and only 6% indicated the Western democratic system as the best one.

Moldova’s political future is anticipated differently in the two regions. In Gagauzia, 33.6% of the respondents said Moldova will be a federative independent state with Transnistria and Gagauzia as federal subjects, while 18.3% consider the Republic of Moldova will be an undivided independent state. The figures for Taraclia are 11.4% and, respectively, 27.8%. Also, 17.4% of those polled consider Moldova can join Russia, 2.5% - the EU, while 1.1% – Romania.

If a referendum on Moldova’s entry into the European Union or the Eurasian Union was held next Sunday, 17.6% of those surveyed would vote for EU, while about 43% for the Eurasian Union.

As to the information sources, most of the respondents said they prefer to watch news programs, to read newspapers or to navigate websites in Russian. Over 50% of those questioned trust the Russian media to a greater extent, while the media in Romania, Ukraine and Europe, in general, to the lowest extent.

Among the three most popular TV channels watched by the respondents from the two regions are RTR Moldova, Primul în Moldova and NTV Moldova, which retransmit Russian media products exclusively or partially.

The poll covered a sample of 620 persons older than 18 from ATU Gagauzia and Taraclia and was carried out by the face-to-face interview method, through the agency of the computer, during September 16 – October 2. The margin of sampling error is ± 3.9%.