Polls: Bulgarians see judicial reform, energy issues and inflation as unsuccessful areas in government’s first 100 days in office

For the first 100 days of governance, the government of Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, receives a rating of 3.57, according to the results of a survey conducted by Alpha Research polling agency among 350 adult Bulgarians on 21 March.

The poll was done for public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television’s weekly “Referendum” programme.

The respondents see judicial reform, energy and inflation as the most unsuccessful areas of the government's work.

The arrests of former Prime Minister Borissov, former Finance Minister Goranov and former head of Borissov’s government press office, Arnaudova are defined as a failure of the Ministry of Interior by nearly 61% of the Bulgarians, the survey shows. Nearly 35% of the respondents said the arrests had been a success for the government in the fight against corruption.

"Boyko Rashkov (Minister of Interior) model cannot degrade Boyko Borissov model. Evidence was expected from the arrest. In a state governed by the rule of law, justice is achieved only and only by legal means," noted Boryana Dimitrova of Alpha Research.

As for the political consequences of the arrest of Borissov and other members of GERB party, the majority of respondents, or nearly 52%, believe that this will unite GERB. This is followed by opinions that it will intensify the war between institutions and discredit the Prosecutor’s Office.

The performance of the government's first 100 days in office is assessed as 3.57 (based on educational grading scale of 2-6, where 6 is the maximum), the survey shows. The first parameter for this assessment, Boryana Dimitrova believes, is that the government had a difficult task. The second - there are unsatisfactory results in many areas.

The areas where the government has worked best during the 100 days are defence and security, healthcare, the agreement of the Recovery Plan, data show. The areas with the largest rate of disapproval were judicial reform, energy issues, inflation and incomes..

A majority of respondents, nearly 53% said the confrontation between the ruling government and opposition parties would not lead to early elections this year. Almost 45% however, believe there will be elections, while 2.6% of the respondents said they could not decide.

Bulgaria’s PM on the first 100 days of the government in office: Change is taking place and going in the right direction