Half of citizens dissatisfied with Kallas' handling of coronavirus crisis
More than half of Estonian citizens are unhappy with the way Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has handled the coronavirus crisis, compared with 38 percent who are satisfied, a new study has found.
The survey was carried out by the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues and pollster Norstat and involved 500 people.
The coronavirus infection rate has been growing rapidly in Estonia since February and on March 8 the government agreed to establish restrictions similar to those enforced in spring 2020 during the emergency situation.
After the rules came into effect, the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues surveyed people's level of satisfaction with activities by the former and current prime ministers.
Respondents were asked how satisfied they are with the activities of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) in resolving the crisis caused by the coronavirus. 54 percent said they were either not satisfied at all or rather dissatisfied, whereas 38 percent said they were either rather satisfied or very satisfied. 7 percent did not have an opinion on the matter.
Participants in the survey were also asked to say, in retrospect, how satisfied they are with the activities of former prime minister Juri Ratas (Center).
In total, 60 percent reported either high or rather high levels of satisfaction, whereas 32 percent said they were either rather or very dissatisfied and 8 percent did not have an opinion on this issue.
Broken down by political party preference, 75 percent of supporters of the coalition partner Reform Party were satisfied with Kallas' activities. The score of the Social Democratic Party's (SDE) supporters was 59 percent, 41 percent for Eesti 200 and 30 percent for Isamaa supporters. The figures were lower among Center Party voters at 22 percent and 4 percent for EKRE supporters were satisfied.
The share of respondents who were satisfied with Ratas' activities was 89 percent among Center supporters, 80 percent among supporters of Isamaa, 78 percent among EKRE supporters, 64 percent among SDE supporters, 56 percent among supporters of Estonia 200 and 49 percent among Reform supporters.
The previous government, which collapsed in January, was made up of the Center, EKRE and Isamaa parties. Reform and the SDE were in opposition during this time and Eesti 200 is the most popular non-parliamentary party.
The flash survey was carried out by Norstat among 500 citizens of Estonia aged 18 and older on March 10 and 11. The statistical margin or error with said sample is +/- 4.4 percent.
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Editor: Helen Wright
