Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has seen his popularity rating grow in recent months, while Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga's popularity has tumbled, according to the latest Lietuvos Rytas/Vilmorus survey published on Saturday.
It shows that 64.7 percent of respondents now have a favourable opinion about Nausėda, up from 61.8 percent in July. Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius came in second with 50.5 percent (50 percent in July), followed by Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis with 47 percent (47.6 percent).
Nausėda’s rating “was going down during the quarantine, and now it stands at 64.7 percent, and was 61.8 percent, so it's an improvement”, Vladas Gaidys, head of Vilmorus, told BNS.
The list of politicians with a favourable public opinion continues with Speaker of the Seimas Viktoras Pranckietis (43.5 percent), Kaunas Mayor Visvaldas Matijošaitis (42.5 percent), Defence Minister Raimundas Karoblis (39.1 percent), Gintautas Paluckas, leader of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (33.9 percent), Labor Party leader Viktor Uspaskich (32.8 percent), Liberal Movement leader Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen (32.7 percent) and Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius (32.3 percent).
Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga, however, has lost some of his popularity, going down to 30.3 percent from 38 in July.
Nausėda also topped a separate survey on politicians who best represent people's interests – 14.4 percent believe so, compared to 16.2 percent in July.
Skvernelis came in second with 8.5 percent (10 percent in July), followed by MP Ingrida Šimonytė, who will lead the opposition conservative Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats in the upcoming general election, with 7 percent (5.4 percent).
Some 3.9 percent of respondents named Uspaskich as representing people's interests best, followed by ex-President Dalia Grybauskaitė (3.4 percent), Ramūnas Karbauskis, leader of the ruling Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Unions (3.2 percent), and TS-LKD leader Gabrielius Landsbergis (2.9 percent).
Matijošaitis ranks next with 2.7 percent, followed by Veryga (also 2.7 percent) and Speaker of the Seimas Viktoras Pranckietis (2.4 percent).
Vilmorus carried out the survey for the Lietuvos Rytas daily on September 4–12.
Read more: Who's who in Lithuania's 2020 parliamentary election – explainer
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