European Parliament elections 2009 (72): Lithuanian comments reveal communication problems

Okay, that just 40% of Lithuanians intend to vote is not very surprising seeing the general turnout expectations for the EP elections. Yet, the comments on these figures, which Karolis Vysniauskas shares with us on TH!NK ABOUT IT, are quite - how to say it - "interesting":

‘I’ve heard that Lithuanian MEPs are working on their own accounts. They draw fairylike salaries because of doing nothing’ ~ visiškas melas

‘Elections to Europarl? Are You kidding? Do we need to vote for bastards who don’t respect us?’ ~ vilnietis

‘I would be a complete fool if I tried to vote in these elections. I could only go if I wanted to shred the bulletin’ ~ Kenas

‘Don’t make me laugh with those surveys. They would be happy if at least 1/3 of voters would come.’ ~ 40 procentu :)))))

‘What’s the point to vote? Do we know what Sakalas, Didžiokas etc (Lithuanian MEPs) were doing in Europarl all these years?’ ~ kas vyksta

‘There were no surveys. The article tries to befool us. By the way, MEPs haven’t done anything to our country. They just ate and sh*t. We don’t need such people’ ~ Vincas

‘How can 40% of voters say that they will vote, if another survey shows that only 15% of voters KNOW what the Eruopean Parliament is?’ ~ nu geras

‘We are ordinary people, who grew up in Soviet Union times. We don’t need democracy, we don’t need Europarl. Give us potatoes.’ ~

‘I don’t understand these elections at all…’ ~ das

‘Lithuanian MEPs, for European Union you are NOTHING!’ ~ Niekas

‘European Union needs us to brush crumbs after their stodgy dinner’ ~ MES

Although such kind of online comments are not fully representative, they still reveal a double communication problem:

First, Lithuanian MEPs apparently don't reach out to their constituencies and second, despite efforts by the European institutions, notably the Parliament, the importance and relevance of the European Parliament elections is still not clear for many, even not for those who engage in political discussions, however strange they might look.

And I suppose, those Lithuanian comments are not an exception, but just an example.

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Under the category "European parliament elections 2009" I am following up national and European activities on the path to the European Parliament elections 2009.

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