site.btaAlpha Research: Ruling Coalition, GERB Particularly Come Out with Higher Confidence after Local Elections, But Key Ministers and Policies Lose Support

Alpha Research: Ruling Coalition, GERB Particularly Come Out with Higher Confidence after Local Elections,
But Key Ministers and Policies Lose Support

Sofia, November 23 (BTA) - The ruling coalition and GERB have come out with increased confidence after the local elections, but at the same time key ministers and policies are losing support, the regular national representative survey of Alpha Research agency showed. The survey was conducted in the period between November 10 and 18 among 1,100 respondents and was presented Monday.

The highest support among the party and political leaders is enjoyed by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. Confidence in him has been increasing for the last 15 months, reaching 38.3 per cent for the first time in three years, with positive valuations topping negative ones for the first time in three years. Support for the cabinet is smaller: 24 per cent confidence against 42 per cent in the negative.

The difference in the confidence in the Prime Minister and the Government is due to the fact that Borissov is estimated according to his actions in his capacity as a political leader. As such, he has no competition, at least for the time being, Alpha Research says. The difference in the confidence in the prime minister and the government is mainly due to the fact that Borissov is estimated according to his actions as a political leader. As such, he has no competition, at least at the moment. The cabinet, however, is estimated through the prism of the policies towards most of which many respondents have a critical attitude.

Infrastructure remains the traditionally financed and traditionally approved sphere in both Borissov governments (73 per cent), and the most approved minister is Lilyana Dimitrova (36.5 per cent). The Minister responsible for European Funds, Tomislav Donchev, also preserves a stable positive rating.

Health care (16 per cent), social policy (13 per cent) and agriculture (12 per cent), are the next where people see some positive changes, albeit with much lower rating than infrastructure. Social Minister Ivaylo Kalfin and Health Minister Peter Moskov rank respectively second and third among the successful members of the cabinet. They are the only ones with neuralgic sectors of responsibility to preserve sufficiently high support (20 per cent each), regardless of the heated debates involving the reforms in their spheres.

The introduction of "public health" tax, one of the most contested initiatives of Health Minister Moskov, enjoys the support of 53 per cent of the citizens in this country. The most effective result of the debate in support of it or against is raising Bulgarians' interest in the content of the products they consume. As a result, health arguments, among which the most concerning are the way children eat, have prevailed over the economic motives against the tax, Alpha Research says.

Nearly all the other remaining sectors and government policies УenjoyФ a high degree of lack if approval. The reasons are different: the manner in which certain bills are discussed, problems in the relative sphere or lack of coordination, which have led to a sharp decline in the rating of three ministers (Education Minister Todor Tanev, Interior Minister Roumyana Buchvarova and Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova).

The public is extremely negative to the protests of the police and the manner in which the security of the people is guaranteed.

Compared to June, the personal rating of President Rosen Plevneliev has risen by 4 per cent, approval coming mainly from the social groups which actively supported the e-vote referendum.

The ageing population and the estimates about the conditions of the individual spheres are a definite influence on the views of the interviewees about the financing priorities in Budget 2016 (for social payments and pensions - 86 per cent, health care - 81 per cent, education - 73 per cent), the social scientists say.

In electoral terms there is no considerable change in the support of the main political forces: a slight rise in the case of GERB and the Reformist Bloc, a slight decline in the case of the Patriotic Front and a more considerable one in the case of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Ataka.

If elections were held now, GERB would have won 24.5 per cent of the votes, thereby establishing itself as the first political force. The Reformist Bloc has increased its electoral weight by 1 per cent (6.5 per cent) while the Patriotic Front, which ran alone in the local elections, lost 1.5 per cent and reached 4.2 per cent. The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) is relatively stable with 6.8 per cent. ABV has affirmed its influence with 3.5 per cent. Ataka would not have entered Parliament with its 1.8 per cent support.

Eighty per cent of the respondents think that GERB has increased its influence in society at the local elections, while 29 per cent consider the Reformist Bloc with better positions. MRF is beginning to lose its image of the Уstrong partyФ as only 8 per cent think it is improving, just as much as those who think that the weight of the new small parties such as ABV and Movement 21 has increased. The main losers are the BSP and Ataka, the respondents say.