August party ratings: Center Party ahead at 29 percent
The governing Center Party and the opposition Reform Party remain the two most popular political forces in Estonia. The Free Party’s ratings have dropped and are now close to the 5-percent election threshold, the latest survey shows.
The survey, conducted by pollster Turu-uuringute AS for ERR, showed that if tomorrow was election day, 29 percent of voters would go for the Center Party, which is a 3-percent increase compared to the last survey conducted for ERR in June, when they were at 26 percent.
The Reform Party comes in second at 24 percent, down from 26 percent in June. The change in numbers can at least partially be attributed to the fact that the Center Party seems to have regained the support of the Russian-speaking electorate.
The Social Democrats and the Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE) are at an even 12 percent each. The Social Democrats had an approval of 11 percent in June, EKRE 10 percent.
In addition to the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL), whose ratings have been in the doldrums for months, the Free Party has also lost a lot of support, coming in at 6 percent just one point ahead of IRL’s 5 percent. Compared to June’s numbers, the Free Party has lost 2 percent and IRL 1 percent.
The ratings of the Estonian Greens improved by 1 percent and are now at 4 percent, just below the election threshold.
Comparing the combined support of the coalition with that of the opposition, the governing parties are ahead by a thin margin, with a total of 46 percent of the voters behind them, compared to the opposition with 42 percent.
Turu-uuringute AS ran the poll between Aug. 9 and 22, interviewing 1,006 Estonian voters. Of all respondents, 34 percent indicated that they didn’t have a preference.
Editor: Dario Cavegn