Although HDZ has a large lead, number of pessimists is increasing.
Croatia is at the end of one of the politically most turbulent years in its modern history. On Saturday evening, Nova TV announced results of its last poll of the year, reports dnevnik.hr on December 25, 2016.
HDZ is by far the most popular party. It currently enjoys the support of 33.2 percent of voters. SDP is continuing its slow decline, and it would now win 23.2 percent of votes. That is the starting point for the newly-elected SDP president Davor Bernardić. The two largest parties are followed by MOST with 9.6 percent, and Živi Zid with the support of 7.5 percent of voters.
Among smaller parties, HSU ends the year with the support of 2.4 percent of voters, followed by Bandić Milan 365 (2.3 percent), IDS (2.1 percent), HSS (1.9 percent), HDSSB (1.8 percent), Pametno (1.7 percent), and HNS (1.7 percent).
About 54 percent of citizens think that Croatia is going in the wrong direction. The number of pessimists is slowly growing, while the number of optimists is declining, with about 30 percent of voters thinking that Croatia is moving in the right direction.
It is interesting to compare the opinion of voters after two months in office of the current government with some of its predecessors. In February 2012, which was two months after SDP’s government led by Zoran Milanović came to power, 46 percent of people thought that the country was going in the right direction, while 40 percent said the country was on the wrong track. As for HDZ’s government led by Ivo Sanader in February 2008, 57 percent of people thought that the country was going in the right direction, while just 25 percent said it was on the wrong track.
Voters are also divided over government policies, with 41 percent not approving and 41 percent approving the decision made by Andrej Plenković’s cabinet. Policies of Milanović’s government in February 2012 had the support of 58 percent of voters, while 52 percent of voters supported policies of Sanader’s government in February 2008.
About two thirds of voters believe that the current government will survive until the end of its term in 2020, while 22 percent think that it will collapse before its term is over.
The poll was conducted by the IPSOS agency between the 1 and 18 December. Data were collected on a sample of 968 adult citizens.
