Growing Unease Over Direction of the Country, Survey Finds

There was a shift of almost seismic proportions between January and November 2013 as the number of people who believe the country is being steered in the right direction fell sharply, while the number of discontented citizens rose, according to a new report. Launching its annual Survey of Cambodian Public Opinion in Phnom Penh on Friday, International Republican Institute (IRI) resident country director Jessica Keegan said the significant drop—the lowest since the IRI began the poll in 2006—from 79 percent to 55 percent in terms of those who believed the country was headed in the right direction, indicated a strong desire for change. … Of those who believe the country is off course, 30 percent cited corruption, 18 percent nepotism and 16 percent said damage to the environment as the top reasons that change is needed. Conversely, infrastructure was billed as the overriding example of the country headed the right way, with the construction of roads (72 percent) schools (57 percent) and health clinics (27 percent) given as answers. … The survey, which was carried out by the Center for Advanced Studies, took place between October 28 and November 10 across 24 provinces where 2,000 people aged 18 and above were asked to give their opinions on political parties, issues, their voting experiences, the election campaign and Internet usage. Forty-eight percent of these surveyed had a primary school education, 50 percent were farmers and 48 percent earned between $101 to $300 per month. Most, 24 percent, were between the ages of 30 and 39. …

 Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/growing-unease-over-direction-of-the-country-survey-finds-51034/