Prague, Nov 16 (CTK) – Most Czechs are satisfied with the change of the social system in 1989 and two thirds say it was worthwhile, while 22 percent of people are of the opposite opinion, according to a CVVM public opinion poll the results of which were passed to CTK on Wednesday.
Thirty-eight percent of the polled said the situation in the country is now better than under the communist regime, 17 percent said it was better before the Velvet Revolution and the remaining one third of people were not capable of making a decision.
The change of regime was triggered by a police raid on a peaceful student demonstration on November 17, 1989.
The people questioned named the possibility to study, work and travel abroad among the changes for the better, while they said the situation worsened mainly in security and crime.
The pre-November 1989 situation is assessed better by supporters of the left and the over-45 generation.
Most younger and right-wing people say the situation is better now, the pollsters said.
The number of people who give a half-and-half assessment of the change of regime grew by 4 percent to 34 percent compared to the same poll of October 2015.
The assessment of whether the 1989 changes were worthwhile has remained almost the same for the past three years, CVVM said.
However, the share of positive assessment has been increasing in a longer comparison. The number of people who consider the change of regime positive has increased by 11 percent to 66 percent since the first similar poll conducted in 1999.
In contrast, the number of people having an opposite opinion decreased by 10 percentage points in the same period to 22 percent this year.
The age of 45 forms the dividing line in this trend, too.
Older people are filled with nostalgia for the pre-November 1989 conditions substantially more often than people under 44 years of age, the poll found out.
It was conducted on 982 people older than 15 years on October 10-17.
