Coalition leaders (l-r): Andrej Danko, Robert Fico and Béla Bugár (source: TASR)
Trust in Prime Minister Robert Fico has dropped significantly after the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová and the subsequent protests held under the title “For a Decent Slovakia”.
Up to 62.2 percent of voters do not trust him and say he should step down, according to the poll carried out by the Focus agency for the Denník N daily.
Only 11.8 percent of respondents said they still trust Fico, while 18.8 percent think he should remain a prime minister, though their trust is not as high.
“It is clear that the events of the past two weeks have a significant impact on Robert Fico’s trustworthiness,” said Focus head Martin Slosiarik, as quoted by Denník N.
Distrust in Fico was high before, but the poll only confirmed nothing has changed. When merging these two groups, the number of people who do not trust the prime minister or are losing trust in him amounts to as much as 80 percent, he added.
Voters of coalition parties want Fico out
The poll also showed that 43 percent of respondents want the current government to step down and call for early elections. As much as 35.5 percent of respondents want a fundamental reorganisation of the cabinet, while only 13.3 percent want the government in its current form.
The only voters who do not wish Fico to leave are Smer supporters. They amount to only 3 percent.
One-third of Smer supporters want Fico to stay in his post, though their trust in him has dropped. Only six of 10 Smer voters still have the same level of trust for Fico.
At the same time, a big portion of other coalition parties’ voters want Fico to leave. In the case of Most-Híd, it is seven of 10 voters, while in the Slovak National Party (SNS) it is more than 60 percent of respondents, Denník N wrote.
Regarding the opposition parties, the distrust is as high as 80-90 percent. Only eight of 10 right-wing voters want Fico to stay in his post, while in the case of centre voters, it is more than 60 percent and every fourth voter among left-wing voters .
Only 61 seats for the coalition
If the parliamentary election took place in early March, the ruling coalition would only occupy 61 seats.
(source: Sme)
The elections would be won by Smer, supported by 20.2 percent of the vote. It would receive 35 mandates, suggests the Focus poll carried out between March 3 and 13 on 1,012 respondents. It is the weakest result for Smer over a long period. In the January Focus poll it received 25.5 percent, the Sme daily wrote.
Another eight parties would make it to parliament. SaS would receive 14 percent of the vote (24 seats), OĽaNO 10.4 percent (18 seats), Sme Rodina of Boris Kollár 10.4 percent (18 seats), Kotleba - People’s Party Our Slovakia 10.1 percent (17 seats), SNS 10 percent (17 seats), the Christian Democratic Movement 7 percent (12 seats), and Most-Híd 5.6 percent (nine seats).
The current coalition would have 61 mandates in the new parliament, while the opposition, with the exception of the far-right, would have 72, Sme wrote.
