For 35.7 percent of the respondents to the Sant Maral Foundation October 2010 survey,
unemployment is the major problem in Mongolia today, while 18.3 percent give that place
to standard of living/poverty/income, 9.5 percent to price increase, and 4.2
percent to corruption. At the same time, 61.2 percent felt government policies always fail to
solve the most important problem they mentioned. Even then, 71.3 percent said they would 
participate if elections were held
tomorrow. And if they are indeed called upon do so, 20.8 percent nationwide
would vote for the MPRP and 21.0 percent for the DP.

Asked how the money from the mining
sector should be used, 38.3 percent said the
state should spend it on economic development, while 31.3 percent wanted long-term programs in education, health, etc. should be taken up,
and 16.5 percent
thought there should be increased social
programs to give immediate relief to the poor. A majority (42.9 percent) felt the economic situation is stagnating, while 36.1 percent saw it as
improving, and 12.2 percent as being in decline. More than half (55.4 percent) thought
five years from now, the economic situation will be “slightly better”,
while 11.2 percent felt it will be “much better”, and 16.7 said they did not
expect any change.

Nationwide, 24.0
percent felt political parties represent public opinion, and 67.7 percent felt
they do not. About society in
general, 69.9 percent
felt there is more injustice, and 3.8 percent said there is more justice. Even then, 87.4
percent said they were “very proud”
to be Mongolian, and 88.2 percent were optimistic about their future. 

L.Sumati,
Head of the Sant Maral Center, which conducted the survey among 1,000 respondents from Ulaanbaatar and Dornod,
Umnugovi, Uvs, Khuvsgul provinces, answers our journalist’s
questions.

Do
our two major parties really follow a rightist or a leftist ideology?