site.bta Some 59 Per Cent Plan to Vote in Presidential Elections, Opinion Poll Finds

Some 59 Per Cent Plan to Vote in Presidential Elections, Opinion Poll Finds

Sofia, June 21 (BTA) - As many as 59 per cent of adult Bulgarians intend to vote in the presidential elections due this coming autumn, Alpha Research found in its regular quarterly opinion survey, conducted between June 8 and 14. The lack of official candidates just three months before the polls, however, undermines the image of independence and autonomy of the presidential institution and the weight it carried in crisis response.

Arguably, if each party puts forward a candidate of its own, the results will be close to those in parliamentary elections. With various alliances, however, and the possible inclusion of the referendums as a factor in the presidential race, a new shuffle of the cards may be in order.

The survey diagnosed an ongoing crisis of confidence in the principal government institutions. Politically, this crisis expands the breeding ground for populist messages against representative democracy, and in conflict situations it motivates people to ignore both the positions and the efforts of institutions to address a problem.

The Government gets positive marks for its actions to diversify gas sources, absorb the EU funds, and combat contraband. At the same time, however, the relations inside the government coalition draw criticism from the supporters of the Reformist Bloc, the Patriotic Front and ABV and, to a lesser extent, GERB. Thus, for the first time the Cabinet's approval rating does not decline as a result of discontented social groups but is entirely due to "inside" political factors.

Prime Minister and GERB leader Boyko Borissov is still the most approved party leader (32 per cent), a level close to the one he enjoyed at the end of the first two years of his first term in office. At 18 per cent, the new leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Kornelia Ninova, gets off to a surprisingly strong start. With their position on expatriate Bulgarians' voting, the Patriotic Front leaders polarize public opinion, and the Reformist Bloc leaders' support remains low.

Having remained unchanged for months, electoral dispositions show some small signs of change. GERB remains the number one political force, but the ranking of the BSP, as well as of the nationalist parties, has improved slightly. The Reformist Bloc is starting to lose momentum from power-sharing and is edging down. The Movement for Rights and Freedoms is below its usual poll levels, but it is not yet clear whether its supporters are merely reluctant to take a stand or part of them consider shifting their allegiance to the new DOST Party.

CONFIDENCE IN GOVERNMENT AND MINISTERS

In March-June 2016 the Government lost 2 per cent of its popularity (which dropped from 20 per cent to 18 per cent), while the lack of confidence increased from 46 per cent to 48 per cent.

On the one hand, the Cabinet receives support for a number of specific policies and actions, such as infrastructure development, absorption of EU funds, steps undertaken for the diversification of gas supplies and own extraction activities in the Black Sea, more active development of pre-hospital care, etc.

At the same time, the respondents become more critical of the straining of relations between the coalition partners in connection with the judicial reform, the election legislation and a number of other bills. Expectations about the implementation of real changes that would guarantee equal access to justice for everyone remain high and unfulfilled, while the way in which mandatory voting was introduced and the number of polling stations abroad was cut trigger open discontent. It is mostly followers of ABV, the Reformist Bloc and the Patriotic Front that are highly critical towards the relations within the coalition. On their part, the supporters of GERB are increasingly critical towards the way in which the responsibility within the Cabinet is shared. This has been the first time that the drop of support for the Cabinet comes from "the inside" as a result of purely political assessment and expectations. The discontent is a way of exerting pressure by the electorate for a higher influence of the political forces, backed by them. 58 per cent of the respondents believe that the Cabinet should serve out its term in office, while only 17 per cent are in favour of early parliamentary elections.

With his support of 32 per cent, Borissov is the only party leader who is successful in keeping such rating in a complex parliamentary configuration.

Regional Development Minister Liliyana Pavlova and EU Funds Minister Tomislav Donchev enjoy the highest rating. The positive rating of Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov, Sports Minister Krassen Kralev, Environment Minister Ivelina Vassileva and Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov slightly prevails over the negative one. A specific group of the cabinet ministers have drawn higher public discontent due to the high expectations and the tough situation in their sectors of responsibility. These are Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov, Health Minister Peter Moskov, Interior Minister Roumyana Buchvarova, Economic Minister Bozhidar Loukarski and Education Minister Meglena Kuneva. The remaining ten minister are given mostly negative assessment.