Survey: Estonians divided on security risk posed by government
Estonians are divided on whether the actions of the current government are a security risk to the country, the results of a survey show.
In an end-of-the-year interview with Postimees, President Kersti Kaljulaid said the current government is a threat to constitutional order in that they are calling into question section of the Constitution 12: that everyone is equal.
The president also said the coalition is a threat to national security that, recalling that in November and December, the Minister of the Interior has tried to shape foreign policy several times, despite it being outside of his role.
A survey commissioned by the NGO the Institute for Social Research (MTU Uhiskonnauuringute Instituut) and carried out by pollster Norstat polled 500 Estonians to find out if they agreed.
Respondents were asked two questions in the Norstat survey. First, whether they agreed the government is a threat to national security, and second, whether the government is a threat to constitutional order. Both questions could be answered on a four-point scale, the responses being "yes," "rather yes," "rather no" and "no," with "cannot say" as the fifth option.
The results of the survey show opinion is split, with a small majority disagreeing with the president.
When it comes to national security, "yes" and "rather yes" responses accounted for 38 percent of the total number of responses. Those who responded "rather no" or "no" made up 51 percent. "Cannot say" responses made up 10 percent.
To the questioned about if the government was a threat to constitutional order, 36 percent answered "yes" and "rather yes" but 53 percent gave a negative answer, with 11 percent opting for "cannot say."
The Norstat survey was conducted by interviewing 500 Estonian citizens aged 18 and above online from January 20 to 22. The statistical error margin is 4.4 percent.
The Institute for the Study of Societal Issues (MTU Uhiskonnauuringute Instituut) is a think tank established in January 2016.
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Editor: Helen Wright