Second poll puts Reform Party and Center Party on level
A poll commissioned by Eesti Päevaleht and conducted by Turu-uuringute AS shows that 16 percent of the nation would vote for the Reform Party and the same number for the Center Party, if parliamentary elections took place today, not in March 1 as scheduled.
The Social Democrats would score 12 percent and IRL 9 percent. The poll takes into account the large group who are yet to decide (16 percent), those who do not want to vote at all (13 percent), those who prefer non-party candidates (6 percent) and the small group who did not want to reveal their preference (3 percent).
The fringe parties fared a little better than in Emor polls, with the Conservative Peoples' Party, the Free Party and the Greens all recording a two-percent support rate, which translates to around 4 percent of the total votes, if elections were held now. The threshold to get into Parliament is 5 percent.
Tallinn University political scientist Tõnis Saarts said to the daily that the results show the Estonian electorate is not as stable as initial ratings show, adding that around a third are ready to change political party preferences.
The monthly ERR poll, conducted by TNS Emor, only counts those who have a clear preference, with the latest, mid-December results, giving the Reform Party a nine point lead over others. The Turu-uuringute poll was conducted over three months.
Editor: J.M. Laats, S. Tambur