Survey: Number of people who want to see power change in Azerbaijan is 5 times more than number of supporters of present regime
The population that wants changes in the governance of the country is 4,7 times more than those who do not want. These are the results of the nationwide survey conducted by the sociological service "ADAM" a month before the presidential election to be held on October 9.
As the Azerbaijani news agency Turan reports the survey was conducted within the framework of the project "Community Youth Center" held by the Baku "Center for Economic and Political Studies" FAR CENTRE.
The population wants changes in the governance of the country: thus 46.0 % of respondents want change of government, because this government does not want to carry out reforms. 34.4 % - do not want regime change, but want reforms. 9.8% of the respondents do not want regime change.
53.7 % of respondents believe that the newly created National Council of Democratic Forces led by Rustam Ibrahimbayov plays a positive role in the country, and believe it plays a negative role - 19.9%, could not answer- 26.4%. The number of the respondents that government was under the control of the society is 66.8 % (53.3 % - 2012). In addition the number of the respondents who think that Azerbaijan more than ever needs strengthening the state was 22.8 % ( 33.6 % - 2012).
The survey shows that the number of supporters of European integration increases, the number of supporters of the Islamic way of development dropped: the country should develop towards the European Union is 64.0% (41.9 % - 2012). Euro- Asian Union, led by Russia is 23.7 % (26.7 % - 2012). The numbers of the supporters of the community of Islamic countries has reduced 4.3% (17.4% - 2012).
In the same time 64.5 % of the respondents stated that will vote in the presidential election, and 22.1% said they will not.
Survey organizers failed to get an answer to the question "name the presidential candidate for whom you vote," because at the time of the survey three opposition candidates changed - Rustam Ibrahimbayov, Isa Gambar, and Jamil Hasanly. The respondents answered the question who the people would like to see as the new president of the republic. 43.8 % of the respondents answered the members of the opposition, Representative of the current administration - 37.5 %. Meanwhile 37.9 respondents answered that the government has not been successful during the last year.
34.5 % believe that if the pre-election campaign and the elections in 2013 are non-democratic, the opposition should boycott them. 49.6% believe that opposition should still go to the polls and fight to the end. If the results of the vote are rigged, 20.4 % are ready to protest; 32.3 % will not protest, as it “does not make sense”; and 14.5% - there will not be a fraud.
According to the results of the survey 76.8 % of respondents believe the democratic countries should adopt legislation that prohibits the issuance of entry visas to Azerbaijani officials who violate the rights of citizens of the country (like the "Magnitsky Act”). 5.8 % of respondents believe that democratic countries should not adopt such law.
Survey was conducted from 14th August to 14th September 2013. The total number of respondents totaled 1,000 people in Baku, Mingachevir, Sheki, Ganja, Lankaran and Guba. Questions were asked personally in the streets to people aged 18 years and older on condition of anonymity. The results were processed by the program SPSS 13.0.