Poll: Low confidence in Bulgaria’s new government, not expected to last long
The Nikolai Denkov government of Bulgaria that took office on June 6 is setting out with a low level of confidence, and few believe that it will have a long lifespan, according to the findings of a poll by the Market Links agency and bTV, the results of which were released on July 7.
The Cabinet has an approval rating of 22 per cent and a disapproval rating of 48 per cent, with a significant 30 per cent of those polled undecided.
Just 15 per cent of those polled held that the Cabinet would last its currently envisaged horizon of a year and a half.
Twenty-eight per cent said that the Cabinet would last no longer than the time of the autumn municipal elections, 18 per cent to the end of the year, 11 per cent to spring 2024 and 29 per cent were undecided.
Were elections to be held now, five groups would be over the threshold to win seats in the National Assembly, according to the poll.
Among those who would vote, current support is:
GERB-UDF 23.9 per cent;
We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (WCC-DB)18.2 per cent;
The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) 14.8 per cent;
Vuzrazhdane 12 per cent; and
The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) 7.7 per cent.
According to the poll, Slavi Trifonov’s ITN party was below the threshold of a minimum four per cent share of the vote to win seats in Parliament, at 3.3 per cent.
The politician with the highest approval rating is President Roumen Radev, at 39 per cent approval to 37 per cent disapproval.
However, according to Dobromir Zhivkov of Market Links, the approval rating of Radev had slid from its former peak of 55 per cent, because of his association with the caretaker cabinets he appointed.
The politician with the second-highest approval rating is GERB-UDF leader Boiko Borissov, who has an approval rating of 22 per cent, while his disapproval rating is 63 per cent.
WCC co-leader Assen Vassilev is third, with a 16 per cent approval rating and a 64 per cent disapproval rating.
WCC co-leader Kiril Petkov has a disapproval rating of 65 per cent and an approval rating of 16 per cent, BSP leader Kornelia Ninova 68 per cent disapproval and 15 per cent approval, MRF leader Mustafa Karadayi 70 per cent disapproval and 15 per cent approval, Vuzrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov 65 per cent disapproval and 15 per cent approval, DB co-leader Hristo Ivanov 65 per cent disapproval and 15 per cent approval and Trifonov 70 per cent disapproval and 10 per cent approval.
As an institution, the National Assembly has a disapproval rating of 69 per cent, nine per cent approval, with 22 per cent undecided.
The judiciary has a disapproval rating of 59 per cent, an approval rating of 14 per cent, with 27 per cent undecided.
The Prosecutor’s Office has a 67 per cent disapproval rating, an approval rating of 24 per cent, with eight per cent undecided.
The poll was financed and carried out jointly by bTV and Market Links. It was done among 1011 people over 18 years of age in the country in the period June 22–July 2, 2023, using the methods of direct personal interview and online polling.
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