In the last rankings: a hard blow for Nausėda and Gabrielis Landsbergis

Conservative leader G. Landsbergis was among the top three of the most disadvantaged politicians. However, opinion polls show that President Gitan Nauseda’s rating fell further during the coronavirus crisis. While the head of state remains the second most favored public figure, his rating has dropped 15 percentage points since February.

A poll commissioned by the ELTA news agency from June 15 to 25 on market research and public opinion firm Baltijos tyrimai showed that in February this year, G. Nausėdas was favorably rated at 83 percent. 11% of the respondents. Respondents A survey conducted in June showed that the President’s favorable evaluation decreased by 15%, making J. Nausėdas currently favorable by 68%. of the respondents, unfavorably – 23 percent. surveyed

During this period, the evaluations of 9 more public figures deteriorated. I. Šimonytė, the leader of the Lithuanian National Union Christian Democratic Election List, decreased by 10 percentage points (42% in favor, 46% against), Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, President of the Liberal Movement, by 9 points percentage (37% unfavorable – 31%), the President of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats G. Landsbergis – 8 percentage points (favorable – 26%, unfavorable – 64%), the President of the Supreme-Restorative Council Seimas Vytautas Landsbergis – 7 percentage points (favorable – 26%, unfavorably – 62%).

The President of the Freedom Party, Aušrinė Armonaitė – 7 percentage points (favorably – 30%, unfavorable – 39%), the journalist Edmundas Jakilaitis – 6 percentage points (favorably – 47%, unfavorable – 31%), President Dalia Grybauskaitė – 6 percentage points (favorably – 58%, unfavorably – 33%), former Minister of Transport and Communications Rokas Masiulis – 5 percentage points (favorably – 43%, unfavorable – 35%) and President Valdas Adamkus – 4 percentage points ( favorably – 79%)., unfavorably – 10%).

The most favorable evaluation of A. Veryga and S. Skvernelis increased more

During the coronavirus crisis, the number of supporters of Health Minister A. Veryga and Prime Minister S. Skvernel increased the most. Although A. Morega’s work is slightly unfavorable for more than half of the respondents (52%), and favorably, by 41%. According to respondents, confidence in the health minister has increased 12 percent since February. and the politicians jumped from 23 to 14 in the favorable rating.

In turn, during the period of the coronavirus crisis, S. Skvernel’s favorable rating in the public sphere increased by 11%, politicians rose from 15th place on the rating chart to 5. According to a survey by Baltic Research in June, the head of government was favored by 52%. surveyed, and 40% unfavorably.

During the coronavirus crisis, 8% The favor of the president of the Union of Peasants and Greens of Lithuania, Ramūnas Karbauskas, increased by 6%. – Viktor Uspaskich, President of the Labor Party, 4% – Remigijus Šimašis, Mayor of Vilnius, and 3 percentage points – Remigijus Žemaitaitis, President of the recently established Freedom and Justice Party.

The trio of the most favored personalities does not change

Although G. Nausėda’s favorable evaluation decreased by 15%, this change did not affect the location of the three most favored personalities. A survey carried out in June showed that the country’s population continues to give the most favorable opinion to President Valdas Adamkus: eight out of ten respondents express their support for him. More than half of the surveyed population also welcomes President Gitana Nausėda and President Dalia Grybauskaitė.

The fourth place in the ranking of the most favored public figures is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Linas Linkevičius (favorable – 54 percent, unfavorable – 30), S. Skvernelis, the European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius (favorable – 50 percent, unfavorable – 26 percent) and the President of the Seimas continue Viktoras Pranckietis (favorable – 50%, unfavorable – 34%).

The public is also more confident than Edmundas Jakilaitis, Visvaldas Matijošaitis (favorably – 47%, unfavorably – 35%), Andrius Tapinas, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (favorably – 45%, unfavorably – 36%), Rokas Masiulis, Viktorija Čmilyte -Nielsen Saul (positively – 34%, unfavorably – 26%).

At the beginning of the summer, the country’s people rated conservative leader G. Landsberg as the worst. The TS-LKD president was unfavorably evaluated by two out of three respondents. The public also disapproves of Vytautas Landsbergis, Valdemaras Tomaševskis (favorably – 16 percent, unfavorably – 61 percent), Gediminas Kirkilas (favorably – 26 percent, unfavorably – 61 percent), Ramūnas Karbauskis, Naglis Puteikis (favorably – 24 per cent). cent)., unfavorably – 55%), Aurelijus Verygas, Viktoras Uspaskichas and Algirdas Butkevičius (favorably – 32%, unfavorably – 51%). These public figures were unfavorably evaluated by more than half of the respondents.

Changes in the evaluations of other politicians and public leaders have not changed during this period (since February 2020) or the changes have been minimal.

Political scientist: President harmed by the favoritism of the “peasants”

Ainius Lašas, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), claims that the decline in confidence in the President was mainly due to the fact that G. Nausėda found no clear functions during the coronavirus crisis and was poorly visible in public.

“The first reason is related to the president’s activities during the pandemic: there was little activity, so he was criticized.” This criticism showed that the president did not find his place, he did not find his activity, his project, which he would have implemented and showed its added value to society, the voters, ”A. Lašas told Eltai.

“The president seemed to be waiting and trying to understand what was happening.” On the other hand, of course, the story with Jaroslav Narkevičius has not yet been added to his favor, “added the political scientist.

The second reason for the decline in the president’s favorable evaluation, according to A. Lašas, is the country’s leader’s preference for “peasants” during the coronavirus crisis. The dean of KTU is convinced that G. Nausėda’s somewhat remarkable sympathy for the rulers helped to form a clearer public opinion on his political and value orientation.

“At the beginning of the presidency, in the first months, it was still not clear which field the country’s leader would sympathize with, many of his solutions were not yet visible, and now, during the coronavirus crisis, a more political and values ​​orientation Clara began to take shape. ” It also allowed voters to clearly see which field had the most president and to shape their feelings against him accordingly: some supported and supported him, while others, realizing that the president was not in their political field, came to him. sound more skeptical, “said the dean of KTU.

A. According to Lašas, the president’s sympathy for the “peasants” was most evident in the agreement on the principles of the welfare state and its implementation.

“The president showed a conversation with the ‘campesinos’, who also spoke about the welfare state, about certain changes in the tax system. Both the president and the governors coordinated positions, worked together. The president himself said he wanted to speak and cooperate “said A. Lašas.

“The head of the country had the favor at the national level, his favor was at such a level that he was supported by the majority of the voters. This shows that the initial favor for him was not associated with any of the parties and was excessive. And the S. Skvernelis and A. Veryga’s rating has always been associated with party activities, with the rulers Their ratings have increased, but are far from being an excessive party, they have won the sympathy of the more neutral viewers of the ruling electorate But overall, his ratings have certainly not risen to the point where voters who vote or sympathize with the opposition go to his field, he also emphasized.

The political scientist points out that despite the favorable evaluation of A. Veryga, S. Skvernelis and R. Karbauskis, the negative evaluation of these politicians is still quite high. A. Lašas also doubts that these politicians maintain the same ratings even after the start of the second wave of coronavirus.

“If we are talking about a possible second wave of the pandemic, then I think the public might see differently the same situation that they were seeing for the first time.” “For the first time, this pandemic was something new, unpredictable, and under control, and in the case of the second wave, ELTA, this pandemic would have been treated a little differently and people would no longer give such a large amount of credit. “said the dean of KTU.

According to the political scientist, even if the second wave of the coronavirus did not start and the ruling Seimas elections were won without great challenges, the enthusiasm of the population due to the controlled coronavirus crisis would diminish and voter support would begin to decrease.

“In such cases, generally, enthusiasm begins to diminish. If we see that there has now been a peak of enthusiasm for one or the other politician, in the long run, when something does not happen much, enthusiasm diminishes and the favor begins to crumble It wouldn’t be a dramatic drop, but I think those ratings would drop a little bit, “he emphasized.

A. Drop believes that “farmers” could maintain their improved ratings with effective solutions to implement the DNA Plan for the Future Economy and manage the economic challenges posed by the coronavirus.

Conservative leaders will not regain the confidence of voters.

In response to Landsberg’s downgrading of his favorable rating, A. Lašas emphasizes that the conservative leader was most affected by the lack of visibility and the inability to participate in key decisions during the coronavirus crisis.

“During the pandemic, the conservatives, like all the opposition, stayed on the sidelines. It was difficult for them to criticize something, it was difficult to point the finger at something, they simply expressed their position at another time (ELTA), but in reality they could not implement those activities because they were in opposition, ”said A. Lašas.

The political scientist also emphasizes that the declining rating of both G. Landsbergis and the leader of the conservative list I. Šimonytė undoubtedly influences the party’s overall ratings as well. According to A. Lašas, conservatives in this situation must devise strategies to once again strengthen voter confidence in party leaders, because, according to the political scientist, the decrease in ratings will have a negative impact on the Seimas elections.

“There are no very easy solutions here, because in the opposition, in principle, you can only take advantage of the opportunities offered by the position of the rulers, and those opportunities are not seen much now,” said A. Lašas.

The dean of KTU is convinced that the general level of visibility of public figures, the activities of personalities during the coronavirus crisis and their connection to specific political parties have the greatest impact on the support rating.

“Of course, in this case, perhaps the highlight was the pandemic aspect, but I think the other aspects mentioned have also worked. After all, the ratings of the rulers, both party politicians and individuals, basically increased, and the Opposition fell because it was less visible and did not have those specific activities that they could implement as opposition, ”said the dean of KTU.

During the investigation, 1000 Lithuanian residents (from 18 years old) were interviewed through personal interviews, the survey was carried out at 108 sampling points. The composition of the respondents corresponds to the composition of the Lithuanian population aged 18 years or over by sex, age, nationality, type of settlement. The opinion of the respondents shows the opinion of the Lithuanian population aged 18 years and over. The error of the research results is up to 3.1 percent.