CHISINAU, April 16 (Reuters) - The popularity of Moldova's ruling Communist party is rising despite a four-month nationalist-led campaign of anti-government street protests, a leading independent polling institute said on Tuesday.
Moldova, by some measures Europe's poorest country, is facing round-the-clock rallies against the Communists over their plans to deepen the ex-Soviet state's ties with former imperial master Russia.
But the survey conducted by IMAS, a respected independent polling organisation with headquarters in neighbouring Romania, showed the communists are becoming more popular.
The pollsters said they were surprised at the result, which indicated only a
tiny, if vocal, fraction of the country supports nationalists from the Romanian-speaking majority, who want looser ties with Moscow and stronger ties with Bucharest.
For months thousands of Moldovans, mainly students, have protested in the centre of the capital Chisinau, demanding the ouster of the Communist government and condemning plans to require some Russian-language classes in schools.
Nonetheless, the poll showed that the Communists enjoy support of 73 percent
of the country. They won 50.2 percent of the vote in the parliamentary election last February.
Only about six percent support the nationalist, pro-Romanian Christian Democratic People's Party, the driving force behind the protests. They won about nine percent of the vote in the election.
The survey, which was conducted last month and questioned about 1,150 people
across the country, also said Vladimir Voronin, Moldova's president and the Communist party leader, was the most popular politician in the country.
About 45 percent of population trust the president.
Former prime minister and a leader of a centrist parliament faction Dumitry Bragish is a distant second with only three percent of people supporting him.
The pollsters said poverty seemed to be the main reason behind the Communists' popularity.
"Moldovans like Communists because our people are poor. A connection between
poverty and Communist popularity is well known," IMAS director Mircea Kivu told reporters.
About 80 percent of Moldova's four million people live on less than one dollar a day. Many are nostalgic for the Soviet times and view Communists as
guarantors of stability.