You're reading: Public’s confidence in government still low, but grows under Groysman, poll finds

The public’s disapproval of the activities of the Ukrainian government has dropped by around a third since Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman took over from his predecessor Arseniy Yatsenyuk in mid-April, a new study by the International Republican Institute has found.

However, a majority of
the public (71 percent) think things are still going in the wrong direction in
Ukraine.

Overall disapproval of
the government in June was 59 percent (20 percent approval), compared to 89
percent (7 percent) in February, according to the poll, which was published on
July 8. The polled quizzed 2,400 residents of Ukraine aged 18 and older and
eligible to vote.

The IRI’s regional
director for Eurasia, Stephen Nix, said that the drop in disapproval in the
activities of the government could be connected to public perceptions of
progress on reforms.

“It’s no secret that
the (Ukrainian President Petro) Poroshenko’s government has faced significant
challenges, but this poll – one of many that IRI has conducted in recent years
– could suggest a glimmer of hope for the newly-appointed Prime Minister Groysman,”
said Nix.

He said the
government’s decision to adopt a number of reforms, including measures to
enhance judicial accountability, was a promising start.

“Now it must make use
of this window of opportunity to ensure that these reforms are properly
implemented,” Nix said.

The modest decline in strong
public disapproval of the activities of the country’s parliament, from a high
of 59 percent in February to 46 percent in this poll, could also represent an opportunity
for continued reform, pollsters said. However, Ukrainians also remain skeptical
at the prospect of the government bringing an end to the political crisis.

According to the poll,
60 percent of respondents believe the Groysman-led Cabinet of Ministers won’t bring
significant change to the country, and only 20 percent said that the current Cabinet
of Ministers might change Ukraine for the better.

The poll also quizzed
Ukrainians in detail on the issue of corruption in Ukraine.

Asked about which was
the most important problem facing Ukraine, 39 percent said that it was
corruption, and 24 percent said fight against corruption should be a top
priority for the authorities.

About 53 percent of
respondents said they learned about the high level of corruption in the country
from the mass media, while 32 percent said they knew about it either because they
had encountered it themselves, or it had been a problem for their relatives or
friends.

Meanwhile, the public named
Batkivshyna lawmaker Nadiya Savchenko as the politician they trust the most (45
percent approval, against 34 percent disapproval). Groysman lags far behind the
former Kremlin detainee Savchenko, with approval/disapproval figures of 24
percent and 63 percent respectively, but he is ahead of President Poroshenko, whose public approval level is only 19 percent (71 percent
disapproval).

The survey was
conducted by Rating Group Ukraine on behalf of the IRI Center for Insights in
Survey Research, with funding support from the Canadian government. Data was
collected throughout Ukraine from May 28 to June 14, 2016, through face-to-face
interviews at the respondents’ homes.

The poll’s margin of
error does not exceed 2.8 percent.

Kyiv Post staff writer Denys Krasnikov can be
reached at
[email protected].