Prague, June 8 (CTK) – Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) has almost caught up with Finance Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) in popularity, trailing him by a mere one point, according to a STEM poll conducted in May and released yesterday.
Babis leads the standings with 59 percent, followed by Sobotka with 58 percent. The gap between the two has narrowed since Babis’s popularity has decreased, while Sobotka’s has increased.
The third most popular politician is again Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky (ANO).
Babis has topped popularity polls since January 2014, when the current government was appointed, Sobotka advanced to second position last autumn.
Babis’s popularity dropped for the first time in the previous poll conducted in March. Now, he has lost another 5 percentage points.
Sobotka’s popularity has increased by 4 percentage points since March.
“It is not possible to say clearly what facts have weakened Babis’s position. The drop reflects the complex character of coalition governance and possibly also the discussion on the conflict of interest of the finance minister who is at the same the head of Agrofert holding, which started mainly in the Chamber of Deputies recently,” the poll authors said.
Stropnicky was popular with 51 percent in May, compared with 52 percent in March. No other politician reached support of an abolute majority of voters.
A gap of 9 percentage points separates Stropnicky from Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (CSSD, 42 percent CSSD), followed by Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Belobradek (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL), Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek (CSSD) and Human Rights Minister Jiri Dienstbier (CSSD).
Many people do not still know some ministers, which is true of Justice Minister Robert Pelikan (ANO, since March, more than a half of Czechs), Culture Minister Daniel Herman (KDU-CSL, 46 percent) and Environment Minister Richard Brabec (ANO).
STEM carried out the poll on 1000 people over 18 years of age on May 19-29.
