The cabinet of PM Janez Jansa is losing support quickly, as its approval rating dropped to 39% in December over November's 46%, according to December's Politbarometer survey.
Meanwhile, the share of those who disapprove of the government has risen by 5 percentage points to 48%, Slavko Kurdija of the Public Opinion Research Centre, which conducted the survey, told the press on Friday.
Kurdija added that, for the first time since the government came to power a year ago, its opponents outnumber its supporters, which is, according to Kurdija, a normal occurrence.
He added that the rise in critics reflects the public's attitude towards the proposed structural reforms.
The ruling Slovenian Democrats (SDS) are still the most popular party in spite of having lost 3 percentage points to 20% in December. The opposition Liberal Democrats (LDS) are in second with 16%, gaining 1 percentage point over November.
The two are followed by the opposition Social Democrats (SD) (up 2 percentage points to 9%), the opposition National Party (SNS - unchanged at 5%) and the coalition New Slovenia (NSi - unchanged at 3%).
November's mass protest against structural reforms by four union associations gained the approval of 65% of those polled, while 24% thought the rally was a bad move.
The share of those who do not support the proposed reforms is on the rise, picking up two percentage points to 53%. Meanwhile, the number of backers of the reforms fell one percentage point to 29% in December.
Slovenians were also rather pessimistic about the impact of the OSCE ministerial meeting, which took place in Ljubljana in the beginning of December. While 40% believe that the event did not benefit Slovenia, 34% said that it did.
Furthermore, the planned abolishment of an independent anti-graft body is opposed by 60% of those polled. However, only 37% believe that the issue should be decided at a referendum, with 51% opposing such a way of solving the issue.
The monthly survey was conducted between 12 and 14 December, questioning 827 people.
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