Vilmorus conducted a representative survey to reflect the political trends in the country after a four-month break. During that time, Gitanas Nausėda was re-elected President, and parties shared eleven seats in the European Parliament. Have the population's attitudes changed regarding voting in the upcoming parliamentary elections in October?
If the elections were held now, the Social Democrats would have the most support in the multi-member constituency. 17% of respondents would vote for the Social Democratic Party (compared to 20.3% in the spring). The Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats are in second place, increasing from 7.4% to 10.1% compared to the March poll. The Lithuanian Peasant and Green Union is in third place.
The Democratic Union In the Name of Lithuania and the party Nemuno Dawn are slightly further behind the leading three. Although the latter is a political newcomer and is not a parliamentary party, Vilmorus has included it in the list of ranked parties.
Nemuno Dawn, recently founded by Remigijus Žemaitaitis, who recently resigned from the Seimas, seems ready to tickle the nerves of its more experienced rivals seriously. According to the results of the current poll, it is likely that some citizens who previously sympathised with, for example, the Social Democrats, the Democratic Union In the Name of Lithuania, or the Labour Party have turned to this party.
Some political analysts call Nemuno Dawn an upstart, but it is still a serious contender to pass the 5% mark in the Seimas elections. So, for some parties, the days of anxiety are over. Polls show that the ruling coalition's Libertarians and the Party of Lithuanian Regions fail to attract more admirers. Support for the crumbling Labour Party, which Viktor Uspaskich is still trying to save by returning to the helm, has dropped completely (from 4.7% to 2.8%).
By the way, respondents also gave a positive assessment to the founder of Nemuno Dawn, Žemaitaitis, even though the Constitutional Court declared that his anti-Semitic statements as a member of the Seimas violated the Constitution and broke his oath. Even 4.9% of respondents said that this politician best represents their interests.
Žemaitaitis is second only to President Nausėda, Social Democratic Party Chairwoman Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and Saulius Skvernelis, leader of the Democratic Union In the Name of Lithuania.
As regards the public's sympathy for politicians, it is worth noting that the new high in the ratings has been reached by the re-election of Nausėda as President. As many as 70.1% of respondents rated him favourably and only 13.2% unfavourably. The popularity of Blinkevičiūtė, who was in second place, has slightly decreased.
However, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the Speaker of the Seimas and Head of the Liberal Movement, can be proud of her significantly improved rating.
The new Minister of National Defence, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, can be said to be in step with her. This Conservative was evaluated favourably by 40.6% of respondents and unfavourably by 27.1%.
By the way, the ratings of the then Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas were quite similar in March – 44% and 28.3%, respectively.
Other new ministers deserved less good marks. For example, Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, who took over the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, was rated favourably by 20.1% of the respondents and unfavourably by 28.2%. Even more sceptical is the attitude towards Vytautas Šilinskas, who has received the portfolio of Minister of Social Security and Labour. Only 7.6% of respondents had a favourable opinion of him, while 21.9% had an unfavourable opinion.