Lithuania’s Social Democrats, the largest party in the coalition, found itself in a complicated position due to its partner, the Nemunas Dawn populist party. Seeking to find out how the general public view the current situation, the Social Democrats commissioned a representative Norstat telephone survey, conducted between November 7 and 21.
The first report on the survey came from the news website 15min.lt. The results show that 53% of respondents believe the current coalition should not continue, while 56% assessed the Social Democrats’ decision to bring Nemunas Dawn into the governing coalition as somewhat or completely negative.
This came as Social Democrats saw some of their lowest approval ratings in recent months.
“We analyse the situation. It’s not as if we live in our own bubbles and judge everything only through our own contacts and experiences,” Social Democratic leader Mindaugas Sinkevičius said on Tuesday when asked about the survey.
“It shows that a slightly smaller share of society would want this coalition to continue its work versus a similar share who think the coalition’s composition should be changed,” he said.
The results also show that “some people are not fully satisfied, but doubt whether things would be better” if there were changes, Sinkevičius said.
The Social Democrats asked voters a number of questions aimed at finding out how they view the coalition with Nemuno Aušra, which party they would support if elections were held soon, what they see as the coalition’s biggest problems, whether they trust the Social Democratic Party, and whether LRT reports political affairs objectively or not.
Žemaitaitis viewed negatively
Respondents were asked how they rate Žemaitaitis as a politician. A total of 19% viewed him very or somewhat positively, while 56% assessed him somewhat or very negatively. Another 24% had no clear view.
When asked whether the current coalition should continue working together, 41% said “yes” and 53% said “no”. The remaining respondents had no opinion. Voters for the Social Democrats expressed similar views.
The survey also asked who the public believes causes the most problems. The question was phrased as follows: “From time to time, tensions arise within the governing coalition related to the party Nemuno Dawn. In your opinion, does the main tension stem from the party as a whole or from the personality of its leader, Remigijus Žemaitaitis?”
The poll showed that 3% of respondents felt the problem lay with Nemunas Dawn, 40% believed Žemaitaitis was to blame, 37% said both Žemaitaitis and the party caused problems, and 16% said there were no problems at all.
When asked whether Nemunas Dawn poses a threat to Lithuania’s national security, 38% somewhat or strongly agreed, 41% somewhat or strongly disagreed, and 19% neither agreed nor disagreed.
Respondents were also asked how they view the decision to bring Nemunas Dawn into the coalition. A total of 20% assessed the decision very or somewhat positively, 56% somewhat or completely negatively, and 21% neither positively nor negatively. A very similar pattern was seen among the party’s own voters.
Survey sought views on SocDems, LRT
The Social Democrats also asked whether people trust the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party. The results showed that 20% of respondents trust or somewhat trust the party, 51% do not trust or somewhat do not trust it, and 28% neither trust nor distrust it.
When asked which party they would support if parliamentary elections were held next Sunday (regardless of whether they intend to vote), 22% said they would back the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), 11% the Social Democrats, 6% Nemunas Dawn, 5% the Liberal Movement, 4% the Democrats “For Lithuania”, 3% the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, and 2% the Freedom Party.
The survey also asked about LRT and whether it reported objectively on Lithuania’s political affairs. A total of 62% said LRT is fully or mostly objective, 29% believed it is fully or mostly biased, and 10% had no opinion.
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