Vilmorus attempted to answer this question by conducting a new survey less than a month after the previous one.
There has been much discussion recently about the ruling party's plans to reform the tax system.
The proposed new property tax is particularly controversial, with the Ministry of Finance being criticised for not providing sufficient clarity on the reform.
Susiję straipsniai
In such a situation, the public would seem quick to crucify Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius.
However, his ratings have not changed dramatically in the last three weeks. In April, 21.5% of residents had a favourable opinion of the politician, while 31.1% had an unfavourable opinion. In the Vilmorus poll conducted on 2–12 May, the figures were 19.4% and 30.7%, respectively.
Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas's popularity has declined somewhat more. The Social Democratic leader was viewed favourably by 43.7% of citizens and unfavourably by 29.8%. The results of the previous poll were 48.4% and 26.3%, respectively.
This opinion of those polled was influenced by the ongoing turmoil in the ruling coalition, as well as the head of government's allegedly vague position on specific events and his soft response to the statements of his coalition partner, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemuno Aušra party, which have been widely discussed. Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemuno Aušra party.
It cannot be ruled out that the Prime Minister also received criticism from respondents for the controversial tax reform, which the Government has already approved.
Seizing every opportunity to take a jab at Paluckas or Žemaitaitis, Seimas Speaker Saulius Skvernelis continues to climb the ratings ladder, trailing only the irreplaceable leader, President Gitanas Nausėda.
52.2% of respondents rated the chairman of the Democratic Union Vardan Lietuvos favourably, while 23.6% rated him unfavourably. Three weeks ago, these figures were 51.7% and 29.2%, respectively.
Recently, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the deputy speaker of the Seimas and leader of the opposition Liberal Movement, who has been increasingly vocal in expressing her opinions, has also not gone unnoticed. She received 39% favourable and 33.9% unfavourable ratings (the results of the previous poll were 36.6% and 37%, respectively).
The May poll showed that the population is quite tolerant of politicians' actions, even if they are not always the best.
When the favourable and unfavourable opinions were added together, the result for eleven public figures was positive (in April, there were nine), including the prime minister and six ministers. Considering the possible margin of error in the poll, at least five politicians are still hovering around the positive result.
However, the leader of Nemuno Aušra, Žemaitaitis, is increasingly moving away from this threshold. This politician was rated favourably by 29.8% of respondents and unfavourably by 45.8%. In April, he had 33.1% support, and in February, 37.4%.
The Nemuno Aušra party formed by Žemaitaitis is also gradually fading. If the Seimas elections were held now, 7.5% of voters would vote for this party in the multi-member constituency. This figure was 11.3% three weeks ago, and in February – 14.4%.
The Social Democrats, winners of the last Seimas elections, remain first in the party rankings. Taking advantage of Nemuno Aušra's stumble, the Democratic Union Vardan Lietuvos has jumped into second place.
However, the majority of citizens are generally dismissive of political parties. Only 4.9% of respondents said they trust political parties, while 57.2% said they do not (three weeks ago, the figure was 9.2%).
Incidentally, even Vilmorus director Vladas Gaidys was surprised by the sudden decline in citizens' trust in the army. Fifty-four point two per cent of respondents said they trusted the army, compared to 59.1 per cent in April.