Results of the BSU sociological survey: The majority of Kyrgyzstanis support the president's policy and the fight against organized crime groups

Bilim AKIpress - From October 24 to 28, 2023, sociologists of the Center for Society Research of KSU named after K. Karasayev conducted another measurement of public opinion of the Kyrgyz people.

The sociological survey was devoted to the study of citizens' attitudes towards topical issues of domestic policy and the current international situation. In particular, the respondents were asked questions regarding the decisive actions of the country's leadership in the fight against organized crime in recent times, their level of trust and assessment of politicians' activities, as well as international conflict situations in the world.

The sociological survey covered 1,518 people living in 7 oblasts and Bishkek city. The survey was conducted by combining two methods of data collection: telephone flash survey on the basis of the University call center and online survey on the basis of cloud service through popular social networks and messengers.

Presidential confidence levels remain consistently high. The level of trust in the President of the Kyrgyz Republic S.N. Zhaparov remains stably high. The survey showed that in the aggregate about 80% of surveyed Kyrgyz citizens trust the head of state (the same indicator was obtained by us based on the results of the national survey on May 10-25, 2023). At the same time, the level of trust in the President among respondents of mature ("36-59 years old") and older age groups ("60 years old and more") exceeds 82%. The regional cross-section of the data also shows that the level of trust in the president remains high in most regions - from 83% to 91%. Analysis of the data by age groups showed that the level of trust in the President tends to increase as the age of respondents increases. Thus, it is very high among citizens of mature age (36-59 years - 81.3%) and older age (60 years and older - 84.2%). The level of trust of young people aged 17-35 years old amounted to 71.9%.

The overwhelming majority of the surveyed Kyrgyz people positively assess the work of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic in the field of foreign policy. Thus, the results of the survey showed that almost 70% of respondents believe that under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic S.N. Zhaparov the international prestige of the country and international relations with other states "improved".

Society supports strong measures to combat organized crime groups. The results of the survey showed that more than 61% of respondents "support" the decisive actions of the country's leadership to combat organized criminal groups (OCGs). The data shows that the higher the age of respondents, the higher this "support". Thus, while more than 52% of 17-35 year olds expressed their "support", this indicator is much higher in mature and older age categories: 36-59 years - 67%, 60 years and older - 75%. At the same time, among the young people (17-35 years old) there were more of those who could not indicate their exact position, as well as those who found it difficult to answer. Apparently, this distribution of opinions of young people is partly connected with the "romanticization" of the criminal world and their characters, which has been observed in our country recently. This is a negative manifestation that signals to us that we need to work on the value system of the young generation.

The work of the head of the Cabinet is a positive assessment. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic carries out dynamic work in all spheres of the national economy. In particular, improvement of the budget policy in the conditions of international economic turbulence requires taking decisive and unpopular measures. Nevertheless, as the results showed, the majority of the surveyed Kyrgyz people - 65.6% assessed the work of the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic A.U.Zhaparov positively. Negative assessments were given by about 17% of respondents. In other words, the share of Kyrgyz people who positively assessed the work of the head of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic was almost four times more than those who expressed negative assessments.

Attitude of Kyrgyzstani citizens to the international situation. International tensions in the world are on the rise. Local military conflicts affect the whole world, negatively affecting the stability of the international situation and increasing the polarization of states and societies. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is currently unfolding, as well as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which has been going on for two years, are reflected in the public opinion of the Kyrgyz people. This issue requires sociological reflection. It is also important because the opinion of the majority largely determines the foreign policy course of the country. So, within the framework of the survey, we asked the respondents relevant questions in this regard.

According to the answers received, in total more than 76% of respondents support the Palestinian side in one way or another in the conflict in the Middle East. At the same time, 48% of respondents are "fully in favor of Palestine". 19% believe the UN plan to create a sovereign Palestine is correct. Among the respondents who fully support Palestine, compared to the rest, there are almost twice as many of those in the young age category - 17-35 years old. This social attitude of young people can be explained to a greater extent by the religious factor. We, sociologists, have long been observing how we, along with other predominantly Muslim countries, are forming a civilizational religious identity under the influence of religion. Of course, this is a question that requires a separate in-depth study.

According to the data received, the majority of the Kyrgyz respondents - 53% - believe that Kyrgyzstan should maintain a neutral position in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. About a third of respondents were in favor of Kyrgyzstan supporting Russia. A very small proportion - 3.8% thought that Kyrgyzstan should support Ukraine in this conflict. Among respondents who were in favor of neutrality there were more young people ("17-35 years old" - 54.5%). And among those who chose the answer "Kyrgyzstan should support Russia" representatives of older age categories - "36-59 years" and "60 years and older" were noticeably more in comparison with young people ("17-35 years").