Twice as many people blame Budapest Municipal Council rather than the government for the coronavirus catastrophe in a Budapest aged care facility. 62 percent of Hungarians support the idea of going ahead with written highschool exams, reveals a Nézőpont Intézet public opinion poll completed on Saturday.
Twice as many people (40 percent) hold Budapest Municipal Council „more responsible” for the coronavirus spread and 29 related deaths in a Budapest aged care facility than the government (21 percent). It is telling that the responses reflect party preferences, and that one-fifth of opposition voters (19 percent) also hold city council ”more responsible” for the situation in the Pesti Rd aged care facility. Among Budapest residents the figures are somewhat closer, but here too a relative majority of 35 percent consider city council “more responsible” for the events than the government (28 percent). These are not reassuring figures for a city with an opposition majority. (37 percent did not have an opinion).
Public confidence in measures and decision-makers is particularly important in an epidemic related emergency, therefore it is good news for the government that it has been able to attract majority support of varying degrees through its actions. Respondents in the highest numbers agree with the extension of the job protection action plan (78 percent) the reduction of payroll costs on high incomes (73 percent) and the reinstatement of the 13th month pension (72 percent). Slightly less but still the majority agree that there should be no compulsory foreign languge requirement attached to tertiary degrees (50 percent) and that hospital beds should be freed up (53 percent), which the opposition may find surprising.
62 percent of all respondents and 55 percent of those under 30 also support going ahead with highschool exams in May, a key issue of the next few days. The response for this question seems unaffected by party preferences. 46 percent of those critical of the government agree that the exams should go ahead, and 45 percent oppose the idea.
The Prime Minister had promised to review the restrictive measures in early May, therefore it is important that research completed on Saturday shows three-quarters of respondents (76 percent) would not like to ease access restrictions as yet neither on the country’s borders (78 percent) nor in schools (78 percent) and they don’t support the reopening of restaurants either (73 percent). 71 percent of those surveyed would not like to lift the shopping curfew either, although the number of those opposing the restrictions is highest in this category (26 percent).
Methodology
The public opinion poll was conducted by Nézőpont Intézet between 23-25 April 2020 based on telephone interviews with 1,000 respondents. The sample is representative of the 18+ population by geneder, age, region, settlement type and level of education. A sample of 1,000 at 95 percent accuracy has a margin of error of 3.16 percent.