Trust In Zeman, Babis Plunges: Poll

Milos Zeman Andrej Babis

Prague, May 10 (CTK) – The public trust in the Czech president, government and parliament has dropped since February when it was relatively high, according to the CVVM poll conducted in April the results of which were released today.

 

People’s satisfaction with Czech politics in general dropped over the period of time as well: 17 percent were satisfied with it and 44 percent were not in February, while 13 percent were satisfied and as many as 57 percent were not in April, the pollsters said. Czechs seemed more dissatisfied with politics only during the government crisis that occurred under Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) in May 2017.

 

The local authorities and mayors are traditionally the most popular among Czechs, though their popularity slightly decreased, too.

 

The popularity of President Milos Zeman, who was re-elected in January, fell from 55 to 49 percent, yet he remains the third most trusted constitutional institution. Confidence in Zeman dropped under 50 percent for the first time since September 2017.

 

The popularity of the government markedly dropped: from 38 percent in February to 35 percent in March and 31 percent in April.

 

The ANO minority cabinet of Andrej Babis failed to win the parliament’s confidence in January, it formally resigned and will rule the country until the appointment of a new cabinet, which is likely to be formed by ANO and the Social Democrats with support from the Communists (KSCM).

 

The two houses of parliament are considered the least trustworthy institutions and their popularity has been lowering since February. The Chamber of Deputies (26 percent) is perceived as less trustworthy than the Senate (31 percent), the latest poll showed.

 

Regional authorities and regional governors are popular among 43 and 40 percent of people, respectively.

 

The poll was conducted on 1115 people over 15 on April 7-19.

 

Public trust in Czech constitutional institutions from April 2017 to April 2018 (in percent):

 

April 2017

May 2017

June 2017

Sept 2017

Oct 2017

Dec 2017

Jan 2018

Feb 2018

March 2018

April 2018

President

55

41

48

51

50

55

55

56

50

49

Government

40

23

26

28

29

32

38

35

31

Chamber

30

21

23

21

23

31

29

32

27

26

Senate

30

27

30

25

29

35

30

34

32

31

Regional office

44

41

44

42

44

46

45

45

45

43

Local office

63

60

60

58

61

63

63

64

62

62

Mayors

65

61

61

60

60

64

64

64

63

62

Governors

43

40

42

42

42

44

42

44

41

40

 

Source: CVVM