Prime Minister Robert Fico tops the latest MVK agency survey as the most trusted politician in Slovakia with 35.8-percent support, the TASR newswire reported, citing Pavel Haulík of MVK, on Wednesday, January 23. Even though Fico ranked as the most trusted politician, he also ended up in second place, after Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) chairman Richard Sulík, on the list of the least trusted politicians in Slovakia. Sulík was mistrusted by 35.8 percent of respondents and Fico by 26.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the other most trusted politicians included Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák (19.5 percent), New Majority (NOVA) chairman Daniel Lipšic (14.5 percent), Most-Híd leader Béla Bugár (14.4 percent) and President Ivan Gašparovič (11.5 percent).
The five most trusted figures were followed by Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) leader Igor Matovič (9.9 percent), former prime minister Iveta Radičová (formerly Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ); 8.7 percent) and Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška (Smer; 8.7 percent).
When asked 'Which politicians cause the most serious problems and corrupt the level of politics in Slovakia the most?' a majority of respondents identified Sulík or Fico. They were followed by former two-time prime minister and now SDKÚ MP Mikuláš Dzurinda (24.6 percent), President Ivan Gašparovič (17.2 percent), Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) chairman Ján Figeľ (15.2 percent), Igor Matovič (14.9 percent), and Slovak National Party (SNS) chairman Ján Slota (8.9 percent). The poll was carried out on a sample of 1,125 respondents between January 7 and 13.
The Sme daily connected the results of the MVK poll concerning Gašparovič with the recent case surrounding a fatal hunting accident in Lešť in 2009. The daily compared the latest MVK poll and the October survey: In the October survey, 4.4 percent of respondents believed that Gašparovič causes serious problems and has the worst impact on the standard of politics, while by January this figure had risen to 17.2 percent of those polled. Last October, respondents put Gašparovič on the 11th spot of the wrong-doers, while he placed fourth this month.
Sources: TASR, Sme
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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