Survey on the Political Climate in Bulgaria: GERB ahead of We Continue the Change

Exactly one year after the last regular elections for the National Assembly, former prime minister Boyko Borissov's party GERB is ahead of current prime minister Kiril Petkov's "We Continue the Change" as the first political force in Bulgaria. This is shown by the data from a national survey, co-financed and conducted jointly by bTV and Market Links.

If the elections were held today, GERB would receive 22.1% support, followed by "We Continue the Change" (WCC) with 19.7% support. The third political force is the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) with 11.6%. The "Movement for Rights and Freedoms" (DPS) and "Vazrazhdane" (Revival) have a similar result - 8.2 percent. In early elections, the parliament also includes "Democratic Bulgaria" (DB) and "There Is Such a People" (TISP), with 7.6% and 6.7% support, respectively.

Data show that confidence in the cabinet fell by 10% compared to January. The trend in trust in the National Assembly is similar, with confidence falling by 7% from January to March.

Kiril Petkov, current PM and leader of WCC, continues to be the most liked political leader in Bulgaria with 27% approval. Against this background, distrust against him is 50%. After him is the chairman of GERB and ex-PM Boyko Borissov with 21% approval and 65% disapproval. Slavi Trifonov, leader of TISP, is preferred by 18% of respondents, distrust of him is 64%. Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of Vazrazhdane, is preferred by 16% (disapproval is 60%), Kornelia Ninova, leader of BSP, has 15% approval (disapproval 69%), and Hristo Ivanov, leader of DB, is preferred by 14% of respondents (60% disapproval). DPS leader Mustafa Karadayi received the confidence of 11 percent of respondents (77 percent disapproval).

The study was funded and implemented by...