Skopje, 6 June 2023 (MIA) - According to the results of a public opinion survey published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) 'North Macedonia; Citizen's Perception of the General Situation, Economic Policies and Consumer Protection' on Tuesday, the three biggest problems citizens in North Macedonia face are the standard of living, low salaries and pensions, and crime and corruption, as well as the inflation and increase in prices.

When asked what is the most important problem people face, 27.2 percent chose the standard of living, low salaries and pensions, 22.9 percent chose crime and corruption, and 13.3 percent chose inflation and the price increase.

Next on the list are unemployment (8.4 percent), EU integration, the open issue with Bulgaria (6.7 percent), rule of law and democracy (5.9 percent), emigration (5.4 percent), the judiciary (4.6 percent), healthcare (2 percent), etc.

While, less than one percent of respondents are concerned with human rights and freedoms, the energy crisis, education, safety and stability, multiethnic relations, and pollution.
 
According to 58.2 percent of respondents who were asked what the most important problems are, they chose the living standard, low salaries and pensions, then crime and corruption (48.8 percent), inflation and rising prices (48 percent), emigration (25.3 percent), unemployment (23.5 percent), etc.

To the question 'It parliamentary elections are held tomorrow, how likely is it that you will vote?', 71 percent of respondents said that they would vote, while 23 percent wouldn't, with 32.6 saying 'I will definitely vote,' 38.5 percent said probably yes, 10.4 said they probably wouldn't, and 12.9 percent said 'definitely not,' 5 percent said 'don't know,' and 0.7 percent declined to answer.

According to the research, if parliamentary election are held tomorrow, 21.5 percent would vote for VMRO-DPMNE, 13.9 percent for SMSM, 6.2 percent for DUI, 3.6 percent for BESA, 3.4 percent for the Alliance for Albanians, 2.9 percent for Levica, 1.7 percent for Maksim Dimitrievski's Movement, 1.1 percent chose 'other' which means that for 2.2 percent means an invalid ballot, 16.7 percent said they wouldn't vote, 8.5 percent refused to answer, and 18.3 percent said they still hadn't decided.
 

 
The survey, which was carried out by the Team Institute and financed by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), was conducted from 13 until 24 April 2023 with 1,003 respondents over the age of 18, face-to-face and a margin of error of +/-3, 09 percentage points. The survey findings do not reflect NDI and NED's views. ssh/sk/