In accordance with Table 1, today two out of five voters stand against mass conversion of private sector employees to short-term labor contracts actively practiced over lately. Although the population is gradually adapting to the “contractual system for the whole country”, zeal officials ready to beat the bushes have taken the situation to absurd. Contracts may be signed for the term of six months or even shorter. Of course, this cannot have mass support and only every fifth respondent approves the contractual system.
Table 1. Attitude of population to the contractual system depending on trust to A. Lukashenko, %
| Variant of answer |
Take the contractual system: |
||
|
In the negative (42.0) |
Indifferently (31.4) |
In the positive (19.2) |
|
| Trust to A. Lukashenko (55.4) |
41.6 |
57.0 |
77.9 |
| Distrust to A. Lukashenko (28.5) |
39.0 |
27.3 |
12.0 |
Those who take the current contractual system in the negative are mainly supporters of liberal market economy and of private ownership. The majority of them believe that the country is going in the wrong direction, don’t trust to A. Lukashenko and voted for his rivals at the election of 2006. Those who gave him right to be re-elected for as many times as he wishes and voted for him at the latest presidential election make a small group among them. The majority here wants accession of Belarus into the EU and spokes out against integration with Russia. The level of education in this group is considerably higher and the number of those who are well to do is greater.
Those who take mass conversion to contractual system in the positive are mainly pensioners (most of whom don’t work and so the contractual system didn’t hit their interests) and village residents, supporters of state-controlled market economy, adversaries of private ownership and those who believe that the country is going in the right direction. An overwhelming majority of them trusts to A. Lukashenko, approved his amendment into the Constitution at the referendum of 2004, voted for his election in 2006 and would again elect him the president. Most of them would prefer incorporation of Belarus into Russia rather than accession to the EU. The level of education as well as the welfare is much lower in this group.
In general it is possible to say that supporters of the current contractual labor system are prevailing among those who trust to A. Lukashenko and opponents – among those who distrust him.