Uzbek newspaper 'Narodnoye Slovo'
October 10

The Uzbek newspaper Narodnoye Slovo has published the results of an opinion poll conducted by the Ijtimoiy Fikr public opinion centre. According to them, the majority of those polled - 67 per cent - highly value peace and stability in the country; over 56 per cent think that their constitutional rights and freedoms are guaranteed; and the absolute majority of those polled think that the main guarantor of stability in the country is the president.

In his speech at the ninth session of the Supreme Assembly (Parliament), President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan said: "The need to ensure openness and transparency is primarily because of the lack of development in the mechanisms of studying public opinion. Public opinion is a barometer of the situation in civil society."

One of the clearest indicators of the process of democratization and formation of a civic society was the setting up of a centre Ijtimoiy Fikr [Public Opinion] in 1997 for studying public opinion. Since its establishment, the centre has conducted sociological research work with over 120,000 respondents from all parts of Uzbekistan.

Today opinion polls have become a real factor of social and political life in the country. The Ijtimoiy Fikr centre conducts research on public opinion in such important fields as national identity, universal and national values, inter-ethnic relations, spirituality and morality, religion, taking into account Uzbek people's mentality, demography and other national particularities in Uzbekistan. Special attention is focused on studying the social orientation of youths in the country.

Researches conducted by the centre show that the country's population highly value social and political stability in our society. In answer to a question "Do you agree that the most precious achievement of independent Uzbekistan is peace and stability, inter-ethnic and civil accord in our homeland?", 67 per cent of those polled said: "Yes, I agree completely", 30 per cent said: "I agree", only about 1 per cent expressed their disagreement, and 2 per cent of those polled did not answer this question.

The absolute majority of those polled think that the main guarantor of stability in the country is the president. Asked "What do you think is the basis of inter-ethnic and civil accord in our society?", about 64 per cent said: "The president's nationalities policy", over 31 per cent said: "The state's caring for ordinary people's well-being", and 21 per cent said: "Uzbek people's open-heartedness and high morality".

The country's population assess inter-ethnic accord in our country as "very good" - 33.1 per cent, "good" - 53.7 per cent, "normal" - 9.9 per cent, "bad" - 0.7 per cent and 1.6 per cent found it hard to answer.

People in Uzbekistan noted the high level of protection and guaranteeing of citizens' rights and freedoms in the country. Asked "Are the rights and freedoms of all citizens of our country are guaranteed irrespective of their ethnicity and creed, as specified in the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan?", 56.3 per cent of those who were polled said: "Yes, they are guaranteed ", 34.9 per cent said: "Yes, they are sufficiently protected", 6.8 per cent said: "Protected but insufficiently", and 0.4 per cent found it difficult to answer.

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