EPL wrote that according to the survey, 27 percent of respondents wish to see Kaja Kallas (Reform) as the prime minister. Nine percent thought that Mart Helme (EKRE) would be the best candidate, four percent were in favor of the leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDE) Indrek Saar and three percent said that the best prime minister would be the leader of the Isamaa Party, Helir-Valdor Seeder.

Ratas' loss of support in Ida-Viru County, a key Center stronghold, was significant.

"From November to January, 35-37 percent of the people entitled to vote, considered Ratas the best possible prime minister. Ratas has the reason to look at his support from non-ethnic Estonian voters with greater concern. For the Center Party, this is an extremely important electoral group - no other party depends on the Russian-speaking voter to that extent. Within a month, Ratas' support has decreased by 12 percent among the non-ethnic Estonian voters. From the 48 percent, only 36 is left," the newspaper noted, referring to the study and associating the loss of support with the jobs lost or potentially lost in the oil shale industry which dominates the region's economy.

The survey showed that while last April, 35 percent of Ida-Viru County's voters supported Ratas as the leader of the government, in February this stood at 24 percent.

The support of the Center Party in Ida-Viru County as a whole also fell to 38 percent in February, from the 50 percent from the month before.

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