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It is true that such an unprecedented step by the Presidency did not go unnoticed by political scientists, but it was evaluated differently: while some think that it is a deliberate step by the president to stop one or another change, others believe that.
Will see the light of day
Ieva Pakarklytė, the senior of the Freedom Faction, claimed that the communication field of the Istanbul Convention was rich from the beginning with absurd conspiracy theories that had nothing to do with the text of the convention or its objectives, such as the results of the poll. He showed.
“A lot of misinformation has been spread, as the survey results show. I don’t know how many of the people interviewed are aware of the convention text and have read it.
However, it is obvious that many people have seen diverse opinions in the public space, and this has contributed to the formation of opinions, ”said I. Pakarklytė.
The association bill, which is at the center of the discussion, is being finalized by the ruling coalition and will be registered in the Seimas in the coming weeks. At that time, it is expected to return to the draft Istanbul Convention in the fall session.
Don’t have an opinion?
At that time, the political scientist Virgis Valentinavičius was surprised by the fact of the polls; According to him, the presidency headed by Gitanas Nausėda is the first to commission public opinion polls and has the funds to do so.
“I would be interested to know how much money is made with it and how bureaucratically it is formalized. In the past, presidencies simply didn’t have this opportunity because they didn’t have the money to do it. Where does that luxury come from? “Asked the political scientist.
V. Valentinavičius also has questions about who needs such a survey. The political scientist said that he believed that in this way the president was looking for his place in the sun, he was not offering his ideas, but he was trying to understand what Lithuanian society wanted to hear.
“The impression is not left that G. Nausėda’s elections never end, he tries to guess what is important to the people. In this case, not only trying to guess, but also checking with the help of surveys.
I would say that this is the behavior of a politician-populist: not offering their ideas where society should go, but trying to guess what people want the most and talk to them, “said the political scientist.
V.Valentinavičius stated that he did not believe that the results of this poll were surprising at all, and polls were sometimes conducted to confirm the previously expressed position: “Oh, didn’t I say that?”
“Perhaps the president wants to apologize for his talk about priest Toliat, when he clearly stood aside,” he recalled.
“However, I am skeptical of the attitude itself, for some reason it is very important to the president what the average public opinion is, and it does not matter at all what he thinks.” Then there is the assumption that you probably don’t think about anything at all, but wait for others to think about something, “he added.
V.Valentinavičius hopes that the parties will vote and act not according to the polls, but according to their beliefs: “I hope that politicians who raise the issue of domestic violence, violence against women and campaign to ratify the Convention of Istanbul in this same painful that they will have the courage to continue defending their proposal and finally accept it “.
A conscious movement?
Political scientist Šarūnas Liekis also said that when he first heard that the presidency was commissioning opinion polls, but according to him, this is completely normal practice in the world: politicians must find out what voters think about their steps and plans.
According to the politician, perhaps in the past such polls were conducted, but not published, for internal use.
“We have a precedent when it becomes clear for the first time that the presidency is using this instrument to uncover truth and light. The presidency used to be a passive user of information that was publicly available,” said the political scientist.
However, Š. Liekis disagrees with the opinion that with this poll the president verified which side was most useful for him to support: “If it were an exam, the polls would not have been published.”
“Government polls examine many aspects, especially in the formulation of one policy or another. This was done and seen especially in the government of Saul Skvernelis.
It is difficult to say whether the current government is doing this; They probably don’t have time, they are busy with a problem, but the previous government has verified many things, just that nobody has announced anything about it, “he added, emphasized the political scientist.
In this case, he said, announcing the poll is a political step: trying to generate discussion. Š.Liekis does not rule out that in this way the president is probably trying to avoid one or another change under consideration, he has an argument for future debates.
“If that position is convenient, then announce it,” said the political scientist.
Š. Liekis fears that only matters of value will receive such public attention, so they can also be used to divert attention.
“There has recently been a message that starting in 2022, the government plans to destroy schools with up to 60 children. However, these issues are not debatable; look at what we are discussing. I would say that many of the issues that we are debating in public are to divert attention from real problems, from real decisions ”, Š.Liekis did not reject.
I want a change
A poll commissioned by the presidency in mid-April showed that the majority of the population did not support the legalization of same-sex couples, the Istanbul Convention, and changes to the presidential and mayoral elections.
54.8 percent. respondents do not support the adoption by the Seimas of the Association Law that expands same-sex civil rights. Another 15.5 percent. people responded “strongly disagree”. 19.5% support or “before” support this law. survey participants and 10.2 percent. has no opinion.
The ratification of the Istanbul Convention is more favored by the people: 22.1% support or earlier support the ratification of the convention. of those surveyed, 48.8 percent. people think it is not necessary to do so, and 29.2 percent. survey participants had no opinion.
But the majority of the population had a clear vision of how the country should conduct the elections.
Up to 89.5 percent. of those surveyed expressed their desire for mayors to be directly elected, and only 4.7 percent. my opposite.
Even more (95.4%) of those surveyed are convinced that the president should be elected directly, as before.
However, some members of the public would be inclined to support some of the changes proposed by politicians: up to 64.1% of respondents would like all members of the Seimas to be directly elected, in single-member districts. 2% were in favor of parliament being elected solely on the basis of party lists. people.
27.4 percent. respondents said that the current mixed electoral system should be maintained, with half of the parliamentarians directly elected and the other half on party lists.
