While Lithuania’s ruling Social Democratic Party continues to lead in public support, trust in its leader, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, has fallen to its lowest point since he took office, according to the latest Vilmorus poll for the Lietuvos Rytas daily, published Friday.
The survey, conducted between Juen 11 and 22 among 1,000 respondents, shows Paluckas’ favourable rating dropped to 34.4 percent, down nearly 10 percentage points from May. Meanwhile, those with an unfavourable view rose to 38.7 percent, marking the first time since his appointment that negative opinions outnumbered positive ones.
Vladas Gaidys, head of Vilmorus, told BNS the decline is “very significant” and warned it could drop further, particularly in light of recent scandals involving Paluckas’ business dealings and contacts.
Despite this, Paluckas remains the fifth most highly regarded politician in Lithuania.
President Gitanas Nausėda retains the top spot with 60.1 percent approval, slightly down from 63.7 percent in May.
The Speaker of the Seimas, Saulius Skvernelis, leader of the Democrats “For Lithuania”, comes second with 50.1 percent, followed by Liberal Movement leader Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen in third place with 36.7 percent, and Social Security and Labour Minister Inga Ruginienė in fourth with 34.6 percent.
Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius, a member of the ruling party, recorded the lowest ratings, with 46.5 percent expressing a negative opinion and only 11.9 percent viewing him favourably – a sharp decline since May.
Šadžius has overtaken Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemunas Dawn party, as the least regarded politician. Žemaitaitis is now viewed favourably by 29.9 percent of respondents.
Other politicians experiencing declining support include Laurynas Kasčiūnas, leader of the opposition conservative Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, whose approval rating dropped to 29.5 percent in June, and Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė of the Social Democrats, whose rating fell to 27.9 percent.
On the party front, despite falling personal approval ratings for the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Finance Minister, the ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania remains the most popular, with 14.6 percent of respondents saying they would vote for it – a slight drop from 14.7 percent in May.
They are followed by their coalition partners, the Democrats “For Lithuania”, who hold second place with 10.5 percent support, down slightly from 11.6 percent.
Pollster Vladas Gaidys attributes the Democrats’ stable position to party leader Saulius Skvernelis’ strong personal approval rating and the party’s cultivated image as a group of professionals.
The opposition Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats remained in third place, with 10.4 percent support. Meanwhile, the nationalist Nemunas Dawn party, part of the governing coalition, saw its backing rise to 9.3 percent.
The Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union overtook the Liberal Movement for fifth place, with 7.4 percent compared to the Liberals’ 7.2 percent.
10.3 percent of respondents said they would not vote, and a further 28.4 percent remained undecided – figures that are largely consistent in recent months.
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