Beside Tomaszewski, Poles support Uspaskich and Paksas

A poll conducted by the Institute of Political Sciences at the Mykolas Romeris University shows that a vast majority of Poles based in Lithuania votes for and supports AWPL (Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania); liberal and conservative parties are not popular among them.

Beside Waldemar Tomaszewski, Poles based in Lithuania support the former president Rolandas Paskas and Viktor Upskaskich. “It is highly related with the social and economic problems in Vilnius Region. Many people hope that the Left will solve those problems in a better and fairer way. In their opinion, the left cares more about ethnic minority issues, but the respondents did not actualy know much about the parties and their programs, the most important thing were the leaders,” Asta Visockaitė of Mykolas Romeris University explains; last Friday, she presented the result of the poll during the conference “Poles of Lithuania: The Development of a Future Relationship.”

Results of the poll (http://zw.lt/wilno-wilenszczyzna/sondaz-termin-tutejsi-jest-obrazliwy/).

According to the poll, 50.5 percent of the responders said that the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania represents their best interests. 26 percent of the respondents graded their attempts as average, 12 percent of the respondents claimed that the party do not represent their interests well. 60 percent of the respondents stated that no other Polish political party is needed, unlike 35 percent of the respondents who did see a need for that.

According to the respondents, among other political parties that could represent Polish interests are TT (Order and Justice) (25 percent), DP (Labour Party) (24 percent), and LSDP (Social Democratic Party of Lithuania) (23 percent). However, very few respondents (less than 4 percent) support liberals and conservatives.

The poll was conducted from November 2012 to July 2013; it contained of two parts of background check, in which 30 people (20 women and 10 men) ranging in ages from 18 to 73 participated, and of surveying. 570 surveys were handed, 411 returned. The poll was focused on Vilnius city municipality, Vilnius District Municipality, and Šalčininkai District Municipality – regions with large Polish populations.

Antoni Radczenko

Source: http://zw.lt/litwa/polacy-procz-tomaszewskiego-sympatyzuja-uspaskichowi-paksasowi/

Tłumaczenie by Michał M. Kowalski w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Michał M. Kowalski within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.