site.btaGallup International Snap Poll Finds 59% of Bulgarians Want Ministerial Resignations Accepted

September 18 (BTA) - Fifty-nine per cent of Bulgarians
aged 18 or over want the three ministerial resignations
accepted. GERB supporters are split evenly between the pros and
cons, according to an independent snap poll conducted by Gallup
International among 932 people on September 12-14. It used
panels to ensure that the data are representative of Bulgarians
aged 18 or over, the polling agency said on Tuesday.

Three ministers - Nikolai Nankov of Regional Development and
Public Works, Valentin Radev of Interior, and Ivaylo Moskovski
of Transport, Information Technology and Communications -
resigned at the Prime Minister's request on August 31 in the
wake of a bus crash in which 17 people were killed and 21 were
injured.

Fifty per cent of respondents approve the fact that the United
Patriots coalition ironed out its internal differences and those
 with GERB and will stay in power. Forty-three per cent hold the
 opposite view, and the rest do not know. Two out of three
supporters of the United Patriots and three out of four GERB
supporters approve those actions.

Asked which of the three United Patriots leaders they trust
most, 40 per cent single out Krassimir Karakachanov, 30 per cent
 opt for "none of them", 17 per cent name Valeri Simeonov, and
11 per cent opt for Volen Siderov. The rest say they don't know.

Society seems to intuitively opt for Karakachanov's more
balanced position and to fear to some extent the more strident
rhetoric of the other two leaders, the polling agency said.

The Bulgarians' general discontent with the status quo has been
obvious throughout Gallup International's surveys in recent
months. This distrust in the political and economic
establishment has pushed up public trust in the prosecuting
magistracy in recent weeks. Forty-nine per cent consider the
charges brought against big businessmen justified, while 27 per
cent hold the opposite view, and 24 per cent don't know. These
findings are mostly due to the public desire for more justice,
the analysts say.

The poll found that although the initial rows in the government
coalition over the ministerial resignations died down, new ones
broke out, further feeding discontent with the status quo. RY/DD