Slovaks weary of Democracy - 43% say better off under Communist Regime

42.6 percent of the respondents said people were better off under the Communist regime before 1989 than now, while 32.1 percent said life is better at present in a poll conducted by the Focus agency in April and released today.

The poll was commissioned by the M. R. Stefanik Institute NGO.

The researchers said in 2001, the gap between the two camps had been even bigger.

At that time, life under the Communist regime was preferred by 61.9 percent, while the opposite view was only held by 12.8 percent.

In the past years, the living standards were rising as the average wage increased and the jobless rate fell to the record low.

The nostalgia for the life before 1989 is bigger among the elderly, those with a low education and unskilled workers.

These are mainly the voters of the governing Smer-Social Democracy and the Slovak National Party.