Nearly half of respondents (47.6 percent) in a recent survey agreed that giving the thumbs-down to the EFSF and ESM bailout funds is wise and responsible, while 32.9 percent think the opposite and another 19.5 percent don't have a clear-cut opinion on the issue, the TASR newswire reported on Tuesday, September 13.
The poll, conducted by the MVK agency on a sample of 1,038 respondents between August 23 and 29, also revealed that the smallest opposition party, the Slovak National Party (SNS), has the largest ratio of EFSF/ESM naysayers (74.4 percent). Rejecting the two bailout mechanisms is fine with 51.2 percent of junior governing partner Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) voters, closely followed by those of the largest opposition party, Smer, (49 percent).
Somewhat more reserved standpoints were observed among Most-Híd voters, 43.1 percent of whom believe that it's wise and responsible to turn the EFSF/ESM down. Slovak Christian and Democratic Union (SDKÚ) supporters followed on 40.8 percent and voters of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) on 36.7 percent. The SDKÚ and KDH are the only two parties whose supporters were inclined to support the bailout funds. A total of 51.8 percent of SDKÚ followers and 38.5 percent of KDH voters backed the two mechanisms.
About one-third of Slovak citizens support the bailout fund and the remaining one fifth does not hold any opinion on the issue, the SITA newswire wrote. More than half of the survey participants (56.7 percent) believe that support or rejection of the bailout fund is not directly connected with preservation of the ruling coalition and so they do not agree that a party that does not back the bailout fund should be ousted from the coalition.
Less than one quarter of respondents answered the question of who should decide on whether Slovakia joins or rejects support for the bailout fund by saying that an agreed position by the coalition would suffice. The survey further shows that about 40 percent of Slovaks expect parliament to green-light the bailout fund, attracting votes from only some coalition parties and Smer, SITA wrote. Only 15.1 percent of respondents believed that the rescue mechanism would be approved by all coalition parties, which would suffice for its approval. On the contrary, almost one-fifth of respondents expected parliament not to back the bailout fund.
Sources: TASR, SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
