site.btaExacta Pollsters: GERB Supported by 25.1%, Socialists by 12.2%

Exacta Pollsters: GERB Supported by 25.1%, Socialists by 12.2%

Sofia, April 21 (BTA) - If parliamentary elections were held now, the GERB party would garner 25.1 per cent of the vote and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) 12.2 per cent, according to a nationally representative poll of Exacta Research Group between April 1 and 9.

Another 7.5 per cent would vote for the Movement for Rights, 5.5 per cent for the Reformist Bloc, 5 per cent for the Patriotic Front, 3 per cent for Ataka and 2.5 per cent for ABV.

If elections were held now, the current party representation in the National Assembly would be reproduced but without Bulgaria without Censorship.

The popularity of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has increased slightly - by 1 per cent - since the party's congress. The approval of BSP leader Mihail Mikov remains unchanged at 16 per cent.

The poll shows that Velizar Enchev, who recently established the Bulgarian Spring Party, has an approval of 15 per cent in April, as it is mostly followers of Ataka, BSP and ABV that show an interest in Enchev's formation.

Pollsters note that the data have been gathered outside the context of real elections and are rather aimed to provide an orientation for the political affiliations that a forecast for an election results.

According to the results of the poll, 37 per cent of the Bulgarians say that are optimistic about the country's future and 44 per cent point out that they are optimistic about their own future.

Thirty-six per cent of the Bulgarians hold the opinion that during his second term as Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has been performing better than during his first term in office.

Twenty-one per cent hold the opinion that now Borissov performs worse, while 43 per cent cannot give a judgment. The negative assessment of the work of the incumbent government outweighs the positive opinions (54 per cent against 32 per cent).

However, the interviewed point out that during the current term Borissov is more tolerant, experienced and restrained. GERB's opening to a higher number of coalition partners also gets an approval, as well as the review of the priorities of governance as from the first term. The efforts in the areas of social policy, healthcare and the fight against corruption are well accepted. Borissov's second term is accepted as more successful compared to the first one by the followers of GERB and its coalition partners. At the same time, the followers of BSP and Ataka consider that now Borissov performs worse than during his first term as Prime Minister.

The assessment of the Cabinet's performance does not change considerably during the past two months: it is 31 per cent and 32 per cent in March and April, respectively. The disapproval of the Government drops by 1 per cent from March to April reaching 54 per cent.

The negative assessments of Parliament's performance are almost three-fold higher than the positive ones: from 63 per cent to 22 per cent. The approval of the National Assembly increases by per cent, while the disapproval drops from 67 per cent to 63 per cent.

In April approval of the work of National Assembly Chairperson Tsetska Tsacheva increases by 1 per cent to 29 per cent. Approval of the Prime Minister's work stands at 44 per cent, while disapproval remains unchanged from March at 45 per cent.

President Rosen Plevneliev is approved by 36 per cent of the Bulgarians, 3 per cent less than in March. The drop is mainly attributed to the negative opinions of the people living in regional centres, the youngest as well as the eldest voters. Such opinions mostly come from voters of the BSP, Ataka and the Patriotic Front.

Regional Development and Public Works Minister Lilyana Pavlova has the highest approval rating, 53 per cent, five per cent higher than in March. The second most liked cabinet member is Health Minister Peter Moskov whose approval rating of 49 per cent remains unchanged from March. The third most liked minister is Labour and Social Policy Minister Ivailo Kalfin with 43 per cent, 3 per cent more than in March.

Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov's recent initiatives earn him increasing approval ratings which grew by another 6 per cent in April. The approval ratings of Sports Minister Krassen Kralev too increase by 5 per cent. The approval ratings increase between 4 and 5 per cent also of Interior Minister Roumyana Buchvarova, Agriculture Minister Dessislava Taneva and Environment and Water Minister Ivelina Vassileva.

Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova is the most approved Bulgarian politician besides the heads of government institutions and the cabinet ministers. Her approval rating increases by 9 per cent to 64 per cent in April.

Exacta's experts report a certain change from March in people's assessments of the work of the parliamentary floor leaders. The approval ratings increase the most, by 5 per cent to 25 per cent, of Patriotic Front co-floor leader Valeri Simeonov. The other co-floor leader of the formation, Krassimir Karakachanov, too increases his approval ratings by 4 per cent to 27 per cent.

Floor leaders Tsvetan Tsventanov of GERB and Radan Kanev of the Reformist Bloc have approval ratings of 21 per cent each, unchanged from March. Unchanged also remain the approval ratings of BSP leader Mihail Mikov who is liked by 16 per cent of the respondents. Ataka party leader Volen Siderov doubles his approval to 12 per cent.

The survey revealed also high approval ratings of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church compared to other state institutions, 51 per cent. Patriarch Neophyte is approved by 49 per cent of the respondents. The armed forces and the police keep their approval ratings from March, 35 per cent each.