Prague, Nov 7 (CTK) – Finance Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) is still the most popular Czech politician, although the proportion of his followers fell to 58 percent by October, according to a poll conducted by the STEM polling institute after the regional and Senate elections were held in the month.
He is followed by Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky (ANO) with 43 percent, who has outstripped Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) who fell to third place.
As against May, the poll ratings of most politicians fell, except for Mayors and Independents (STAN) leader Petr Gazdik whose popularity rose by 1 percent to the current 31 percent, with which he has advanced from the 20th to the 12th place.
Leader of the anti-migrant Freedom and Direct Democracy Tomio Okamura has been steadily holding the fourth place before Christian Democrat (KDU-CSL) leader Pavel Belobradek.
Sobotka scored a large, 11 percent slump in his popularity, while the poll ratings of Interior Minister Milan Chovanec decreased by as many as 22 percent, and Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, Health Minister Svatopluk Nemecek and Industry and Trade Minister Jan Mladek by 10 percent all. All of them are Social Democrats.
On the other hand, the level reached before the May poll was scored again by Communist leader Vojtech Filip (30 percent) and party deputy chairman Pavel Kovacik (20 percent) as well as the opposition Civic Democratic Party (ODS) leader Petr Fiala (21 percent) and the opposition TOP 09 leader Miroslav Kalousek (12 percent).
The poll was conducted on a sample of 1,054 people over 18 between October 13 and 21.
