Ratings have dropped for Prime Minister Robert Golob’s Freedom Movement and his government as a whole as close to one year has passed since the landslide election win attributed to the reform drive that has since been widely condemned as botched and poorly communicated, a poll conducted by Mediana for Delo on Tuesday reads.
The poll results showed that the number of people who see the government’s efforts as negative or very negative has risen to 45% – up almost 10 points compared to last month.
At the same time, the share of those who believe the government is doing a positive or a very positive job dropped by 4.7 points in a month to 25.8%.
Similarly, the most recent poll released by the polling agency Valicon, which uses a different gauge, has shown trust in the government dropping by 40 points from its peak in June 2022.
Trust in the government’s work has declined since late last year, but the first serious drop into the negative zone was observed in early 2023.
The Freedom Movement has not been spared the negative trend, with the latest Delo poll putting it 0.3 points behind the opposition Democrats – the first time since the election that it cost first place.
The Freedom Movement polled 23% this month, having lost 3.8 points in the previous month and 11 points from its peak in December, as the Democrats, the party of former Prime Minister Janez Janša, gained 1.7 points and is now polling at 23.3%.
The rating drop comes after the government abandoned a wide-reaching tax reform following leaks in the media that suggested there would be significant tax hikes.
A much-lauded health system reform has also been delayed, even as the public health system buckles under the weight. In contrast, reform of public sector wages has encountered stiff opposition from trade unions and looks increasingly unlikely to be finalised by June as planned by the government.
(Sebastijan R. Maček | sta.si)
Source: euractiv.com
