The government’s popularity has fallen for the fifth month in a row.
Politically speaking, October was a month marked by the Agrokor affair. The police first arrested and then released some of its former managers, while the majority owner Ivica Todorić is at large and an international arrest warrant has been issued for him. The Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry on Agrokor was founded and should start hearing from witnesses next week. However, all these events did not bring much change to the popularity of individual political parties, although they did increase the number of those who believe that the country is on the wrong track even further, reports Večernji List on October 29, 2017.
Nova TV announced the results of its monthly Crobarometer poll, which showed that HDZ had stopped the drop of support among the voters, and ended October with 32.5% of support. At the same time, the most significant opposition party, SDP, has stopped its drop and currently has the support of 23.4% of voters.
Živi Zid has increased somewhat in popularity, which currently stands at 10.5%, while MOST is fourth with 6.9% of support.
The four largest parties are followed by Bandić Milan 365 party (4.2%), Istrian Democratic Assembly – IDS (2.3%), Croatian Pensioners Party – HSU (2%), and Croatian Peasant Party – HSS (1.9%). HNS, a junior partner in the ruling coalition, is at just one percent.
As much as 70% of voters think that the country is going in the wrong direction, which is the second worst result in the last six months, and just 22% think it is on the right track.
Similarly, 63% of respondents do not approve of the government policies, which is the fifth month in a row that the number of government’s opponents has been growing. At the same time, the policies of Plenković’s cabinet are supported by 28% of respondents.
About 63% of voters think that the government coalition will survive until the end of the term, which is lower than compared to the last several months when more voters believed that the next elections would not take place before 2020. About 27% of respondents think that the coalition will collapse.
As for President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, her activities are supported by 40% of respondents, while 50% think she is not doing a good job. For comparison, three months ago she was supported by 53% of voters. At a similar point in his term, former President Ivo Josipović was supported by 72% of respondents.
Personally, about 50% of the respondents have a favourable impression about the President, while 42% are of contrary opinion. While she is still the most popular politician in Croatia by this measure, this is her worst result in a year.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković is viewed negatively by 55% of respondents, while 38% have a favourable impression, which is slightly worse than the month before. MOST leader Božo Petrov is seen negatively by 51% of respondents and positively by 38%. SDP president and nominally the leader of the opposition Davor Bernardić has slightly improved his public perception and is now viewed favourably by 30% of respondents, or five percentage points more than the previous month.
The survey was conducted by the IPSOS agency between 1 and 20 October on a sample of 975 adult citizens from all over Croatia.
Translated from Večernji List.
