If parliamentary elections were to take place next weekend, the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) led by Mikuláš Dzurinda would not clear the 5-percent threshold necessary to get MPs elected to parliament. According to a telephone survey by the Polis agency, only 4.8 percent of respondents would support the party.
Polis quizzed 1,478 respondents aged over 18 between May 5 and May 10 in the survey, which was conducted on behalf of the TA3 TV news channel. Smer emerged as the strongest party, with 46.9 percent of preferences, the SITA newswire reported. This result, equivalent to 92 parliamentary seats, would give Smer, the ruling party, a two-thirds constitutional majority in parliament. Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO), led by Igor Matovič, would come second with 9.5 percent (equivalent to 19 MPs); the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) was next, with 8.3 percent; Most-Híd had 6.4 percent; while Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) attracted 5.2 percent.
According to the same survey, former prime minister Iveta Radičová is considered the second most trustworthy politician in Slovakia despite having recently quit politics. She got the support of 14.1 percent of those polled. The most trustworthy politician is Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was named by 32.7 percent of respondents. The third most trustworthy politician is President Ivan Gašparovič, backed by 13.3 percent. The top ten chart of political trustworthiness also features Robert Kaliňák (Smer) with 8.4 percent, Béla Bugár (Most-Híd) with 6.9 percent, Daniel Lipšic (KDH) with 5.4 percent, Ján Figeľ (KDH) with 3.2 percent, Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) with 3.2 percent, Ivan Mikloš (SDKÚ) with 2.3 percent and Pavol Hrušovský (KDH) with 2.2 percent. Of those polled, 35 percent say they do not trust any politician while 7.4 percent trust a politician who was not listed by Polis. Another 5.1 percent of respondents were not able to answer the question.
Source: 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.
