Govt Approval Rating High; 64% for Delay of Croatia EU Talks

Ljubljana, 24 March

The March edition of the Politbarometer survey has shown a high government approval rating. The government received the backing of 61% of respondents, which is level with February's 59% and January's 61%. Opposition was expressed by 25% of the people polled, down from February's 29% and close to January's 22%.

Similarly, the ruling Slovenian Democrats (SDS) received the highest, 30% support, with the leading opposition party Liberal Democrats (LDS) trailing in second place with a 15% backing (up from 14%).
Such support of the government is expected to continue if the opposition continues with its attitude of resignation, said Slavko Kurdija, who heads the survey. Government support is at the level of highest approval ratings from the past, he said.
The survey also showed majority support for the EU decision to postpone the beginning of accession talks with Croatia. While 64% of respondents supported the decision, 23% opposed it.
The public was critical about the military intervention in Iraq, with only 26% of the respondents fully approving it.
The share of those pleased with the level of democracy in Slovenia was at 50%, up from February's 44% and January's 47%.
The survey showed slight changes in party ratings. Support for the SDS was slightly lower (by 2 percentage points from February), while the LDS gained 1 percentage point from the previous month.
The opposition United List of Social Democrats (ZLSD) remains in third among parties with support of 7% (level with last month). Following are the opposition National Party (SNS) with 5% (up from February's 4%), coalition New Slovenia (NSi) with 3% (up from February's 2%), the coalition People's Party (SLS) with 2% (up from February's 1%), and the coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) with 2% (up from February's 1%).
A total of 912 people were questioned in the poll, carried out between 21 and 23 March by the Public Opinion Research Centre at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Govt Approval Rating High; 64% for Delay of Croatia EU Talks

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