August party ratings: Reform remains on rise, IRL and Greens almost equal
The rating of the opposition Reform Party has remained on a steady rise over the past few months, emerging once again as the post popular political party in Estonia in August, it appears from the results of a poll commissioned by BNS and daily Postimees and conducted by Kantar Emor.
Reform's August rating was 27.6 percent, up from 25.4 percent in June and 26.4 percent in July. Its August rating was also 0.1 percent higher than in May, when its rating hit a new high after October 2016.
The Center Party, the senior member of the ruling three-party coalition, has meanwhile seen its support continue to decline over the summer — from 25.1 percent in June to 23.1 percent in July and 22.8 percent in August.
Support for the opposition Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) was also up at 17.2 percent in August, from 16.2 percent in Jun and 15.9 percent in August. This also marked the greatest support for EKRE since October 2016.
The junior coalition member Social Democratic Party (SDE) is enjoying relatively stable voter support, with ratings of 14.2 percent in June, 14.8 percent in July and 14.6 percent in August.
The opposition Free Party has seen its ratings go through minor ups and downs this summer, polling at 8.5 percent in June, 7.4 percent in July and 9.4 percent in August.
Junior coalition member Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL), however, saw its rating drop below the 5 percent election threshold again, after doing so in April as well. IRL had a rating of 6.6 percent in June, 6.3 percent in July and jut 3.8 percent in August, marking a new low for IRL since last October.
The non-parliamentary Estonian Greens, which temporarily cleared the election threshold in July, dropped below the barrier again, polling at 3.2 percent in June, 5.4 percent in July and 3.7 percent in august.
Support for ruling coalition drops over summer
The combined rating of the three parties of the ruling coalition — Center, SDE and IRL — has also continued to decline over the summer, from 46 percent in June to 44 percent in July and 41 percent in August.
From Aug. 11-17, Kantar Emor interviewed 1,257 voting-age citizens between the ages of 18-74. The answers of individuals listing "no preference" as to party identification were eliminated from the outcome in order to make it as comparable as possible to the outcome of a parliamentary election held during the survey period. In August, this included 28.6 percent of respondents.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS
