Sociologist: Isamaa should start addressing their party ratings
Commenting on the latest party ratings to be published Friday, Turu-uuringute AS sociologist Tõnis Stamberg said that political technology has a significant role to play in fluctuations in support for the coalition Isamaa party.
In a special online broadcast dedicated to the latest party ratings on ERR, Stamberg said that the drop in support for Isamaa, which dipped below the election threshold of 5 percent, nonetheless remains within the margins of statistical error, and it cannot be claimed that a significant drop has occurred. Support for Isamaa stood at 6 percent in May and 3 percent in June.
"If I consider it in the long term, then this percentage has dropped so much over the past year and a half that it should probably start to be addressed," he said, adding that the party's trump card ahead of elections has always been strong candidates capable of boosting ratings.
At the same time, support for the non-parliamentary Estonia 200 has increased somewhat on month, from 8 to 9 percent.
"If a political party is established right before elections, how much are they capable of recruiting members and campaigning, and to what extent do they reach the people?" he asked. He noted, however, that if they achieve good results in the 2021 local elections, Estonia 200, which fell just below the election threshold in the 2019 elections, may be elected to the Riigikogu next time.
Despite the party donation scandal, support for the coalition Center Party has remained steady at 27 percent. According to Stamberg, Center's strengths include bringing Russian-speakers into politics and years of listening to their constituents.
"We should actually be glad that our Russian voters are behind the Center Party rather than like the situation in Latvia, where there is a purely Russian party that promotes Russian things," he said.
Stamberg also discussed Tallinn Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart's decision, finding that Kõlvart might be interested in moving on to national politics.
"Kõlvart has a strong backing among Tallinn voters, and he intends to grow this with his robust steps," he said.
The sociologist also noted that support for the non-parliamentary Free Party was nonexistent this month, down from the already low 0.3 percent last month.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla