Prague, Dec 28 (CTK) – Finance Minister and ANO head Andrej Babis keeps the position of the Czech most popular politician, assessed positively by 61 percent of people, followed by PM Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) and Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky (ANO), a poll released by the STEM agency has shown.
Sobotka finished second with 56 percent and Stropnicky third with 50 percent.
STEM registered the same popularity of Sobotka, 56 percent, in the preceding poll in September.
The popularity of Stropnicky has risen by 6 percent in the past three months.
The popularity of Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (CSSD), who finished fourth, has risen even more steeply, by 7 percent to the present 53 percent.
Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek (CSSD) ended fifth, being popular with 40 percent of people.
“The improved assessment of ministers Stropnicky and Chovanec, whose ministries deal with security affairs, indicates that people pay increased attention to these ministries in connection with the refugee crisis, but it probably also reflects people´s appreciation of the two ministers´ performance,” STEM said.
Tomio Okamura, head of the marginal opposition Freedom and Direct Democracy movement known for his opposition to the acceptance of migrants, has seen his popularity increase by 8 percent to 37.
Deputy PM and Christian Democrat (KDU-CSL) chairman Pavel Belobradek, Human Rights Minister Jiri Dienstbier (CSSD) and ANO first deputy chairman Jaroslav Faltynek are among the politicians whose popularity fell the steepest of all since September.
The least popular Czech politician, with 13 percent, is Marek Cernoch, head of the small opposition Dawn movement´s group of deputies. However, almost a half of the respondents said they do not know him.
Miroslav Kalousek, who heads the leading rightist opposition party, TOP 09, and is well known to the public, finished narrowly ahead of Cernoch with 14 percent.
STEM conducted the poll on 1,014 people on December 3-11.
