Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene has fallen from second to fifth place in a monthly ranking of politicians considered most suitable to lead the government, according to a Spinter Tyrimai poll conducted in November and published Wednesday by Delfi.
Only 4.5% of respondents viewed Ruginienė as the best choice for prime minister, down from 8% in October.
Former conservative prime minister Ingrida Šimonytė remained the top pick, supported by 13.4% of respondents in November compared with 14.9% a month earlier.
Saulius Skvernelis, leader of the opposition Democrats “For Lithuania” party and also a former prime minister, ranked second with 9.2%, up from 7.9%. Remigijus Žemaitaitis, head of the ruling Nemunas Dawn party, placed third with 6%, rising from 4.1% in October. Liberal Movement leader Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen followed with 5.2%, up from 4.4%.
Public dissatisfaction with Ruginienė’s government also increased. The poll found 73.5% of respondents rated the cabinet’s performance as negative or rather negative in November, up from 67.1% the previous month. Positive ratings dropped to 14.7% from 21.2%. Another 11.8% did not know or did not answer.
In party preferences, the opposition Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats held the lead with 13.7% support, down from 14.5% in October. The ruling Lithuanian Social Democratic Party followed with 9%, declining from 12.6%.
The opposition Democrats “For Lithuania” ranked third with 8.2%, down from 8.9%, followed by the ruling Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union at 7%, up from 6.4%. The opposition Liberal Movement registered 5.7% support, little changed from 5.6%. The ruling Nemunas Dawn party stood at 5.4%, down slightly from 5.6%.
About 24% of respondents said they did not know or would not say which party they would support, up from 20% in October.
Spinter Tyrimai surveyed more than 1,000 people online and by phone between November 17 and 28. The poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
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