Soaring Public Approval for Bulgarian Govt, Poll Says

A second poll in a row finds Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetanov (left) to have slightly higher ratings than PM Borisov (right). Photo by BGNES

Leading figures from Bulgaria’s Borisov government as a whole continue to enjoy high public approval, a recent public opinion poll shows.

According to the a survey of the National Center for Studying Public Opinion conducted in May 15-25, 2010, across the country, a total of 64.7% of the Bulgarians approve of the work of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov; his public rating is down 3% compared to the last poll of the same agency conducted several months ago.

Interior Minister Tsvetanov, however, still has a slightly higher rating than his party leader. Tsvetanov enjoys the trust of 68.5% of the Bulgarian citizens. In early May, a poll of another agency, MBMD, showed for the first time that Tsvetanov surpassed Borisov in popularity with 60% vs. 56.7% respectively.

The National Center for Studying Public Opinion has found that Bulgaria’s socialist President, Georgi Parvanov, enjoys the support of 47% of the people. Yet, the third most popular Bulgarian politician is EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva with the approval of 56%.

Bulgaria’s Finance Minister Simeon Djankov in contrast has the approval of only 34%, while 48% disapprove of his work. The ratings of Labor Minister Totyu Mladenov are similarly bad – 27% approval vs. 34% disapproval.

A number of the other ministers are doing relatively well in terms of gaining the trust of the people: Culture Minister Rashidov – 46.7%; Diaspora Minister Bozhidar Dimitrov – 43%; Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov – 42.4%; Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov – 42%.

About 72% of the people in Bulgaria are found to believe genuinely that the GERB party government has the political will needed to fight organized crime; about 30% assume that the numerous special operations conducted recently might be driven by political motives or personal interests.

53% of the respondents in the poll said they trust the police; 46% - the government; 42% - the army. The government is mostly supported by the sympathizers of the ruling party GERB and its ally, the nationalist party Ataka; at the same time, however, almost 40% of the third formation backing the government in principle, the right-wing Blue Coalition, have serious reserves about Cabinet policies.

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