Politbarometer: Jansa Govt Approval Rating Remains High

Ljubljana, 30 May

With 57% backing in May, the Janez Jansa government's approval rating remains high, a survey shows. Nevertheless, the support for the government was by 1% stronger in April. The Jansa-led Slovenian Democrats (SDS) enjoy the highest support among the parties with 34%, the results of the Politbarometer opinion poll show on Monday.

As last month, 29% of the respondents do not agree with government policies, while 14% are undecided, compared to 13% in April. The popularity of the SDS has, meanwhile, risen 2% since April and 4% since March.
The opposition Liberal Democrats (LDS) are the second most popular party in May with 11%, which is down 2% since April and 4% since March, according to the monthly poll carried out by the Faculty of Social Sciences centre for public opinion and mass media research.
Of the state institutions, President Janez Drnovsek's office rating ranks highest, followed by PM Janez Jansa and Speaker France Cukjati. The National Council ranks lowest according to the poll.
Among the ministries, the Defence Ministry, Public Administration Ministry and Higher Education Ministry enjoy the most support, while the Labour, Agriculture and Finance Ministries came in last.
When asked about their expectations in view of the euro adoption in Slovenia, 57% of the respondents were pessimistic, while 23% think there will be more advantages than disadvantages. According to head of the poll Slavko Kurdija, Slovenians tend to be sceptical in these matters.
Asked about the value of one euro, 67% gave the correct answer. More than half of the respondents would sooner calculate the price of a new car in tolars, compared to 29% that would prefer euros. Interestingly, 10% would chose to make the calculation in the former Deutsche mark.
As in April, a new bill on national broadcaster RTV Slovenija was one of the questions. Only 63% have heard about it and among them; of these, 39% think the act would increase the influence of politics on the public television, while 17% believe the influence would decrease. Of those familiar with the bill, 43% do not support it, while 25% do.
According to the survey, the most burning challenges for Slovenian politics to tackle at the moment are unemployment, problems with Croatia and economic issues.
Politbarometer polled 901 respondents from 23 to 25 May.

Politbarometer: Jansa Govt Approval Rating Remains High

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