Many in Romania miss Ceausescu regime

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BUCHAREST, Romania, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Many Romanians miss the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu and believe they were better off then, a survey found.

The study, carried out by CSOP along with the government's Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile, was released Friday, WAZ.EUobserver reported.

Only 27 percent of Romanians said communism was "wrong," while 47 percent answered "it was a good idea, but badly applied" and 14 percent thought it was a "good idea, and well applied." A striking 78 percent said neither they, nor their families, ever suffered under communism.

Life was better under communism, said 49 percent of Romanians, while only 23 percent said it was worse and 14 percent saw no difference. The main reasons given: everybody had a job (62 percent), decent living conditions (26 percent) and guaranteed housing (19 percent.

Some 25 percent of those interviewed thought Ceausescu was a good leader while 15 percent said the opposite and the rest professed mixed opinions.

The survey was carried out in August and September with a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.