Forwarded From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > ROMANIANS LIKED LIFE BETTER UNDER COMMUNISM > Reuters > November 21, 1999 > BUCHAREST, Romania -- Ten years after communism's fall, 4 in 5 Romanians > are unhappy with the way they live, with 61 percent saying they were > better off under the late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, an opinion poll > reports. > "This is a very sad picture of Romanian society," political scientist > Dorel Abraham told a news conference late last week while commenting on > the findings of the survey released by the Open Society Foundation. > The survey also showed a dramatic plunge in popularity ratings for > President Emil Constantinescu and his centrists, who are now trailing > far behind the leftists they ousted in polls three years ago. > "The situation in the country is very tense, the mood is bad and > pessimism is on the rise," Abraham said. > Disaster, poverty, chaos, difficulties and disorder were the words > chosen by most of the 2,019 Romanians polled in late October to best > describe the country's situation, as Romania prepares to mark 10 years > since Eastern Europe's most violent anti-communist revolution. > Perhaps not surprisingly, Abraham said, Ceausescu was chosen by most, or > 22 percent of those polled, as Romania's best, as well as its most evil, > leader over the past 100 years. > "This paradox also reflects the current economic and social situation," > Abraham said. > The poll also showed that 84 percent of Romanians lack confidence in the > government after three years of a shrinking economy and widespread > layoffs. More than 80 percent said they had lost confidence in > parliament and political parties. > Failure to meet promises of weeding out corruption, improving living > standards and speeding up privatization also halved support for > Constantinescu, now at a record low of 17 percent, down from 38 percent > last year. > Leftist rival Ion Iliescu, defeated by Constantinescu in 1996 polls > after seven years in office, is now credited with 44 percent of > credibility, up from 28 percent a year ago. > With support for Constantinescu's centrists halved from June's 34 > percent, the survey showed that Iliescu's Party of Social Democracy was > the biggest gainer from what Abraham called "three years of > mismanagement and hesitation." > -- *This was NOT attached by the Tao collective* Looking for radically new approaches to your internet? Check out the Tao "ten point platform": http://new.tao.ca/ Computing the revolution. Macdonald Stainsby --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
