By: Gal Kovač (Nova24TV.si)
The level of trust in the work of Robert Golob’s government has been consistently falling since the end of last year, and in the public opinion poll conducted between March 18th and 20th, it was measured to be the lowest ever. “This is -18, which is 40 points less than the highest confidence level measured in June last year, when it was +22,” they wrote in Valicon. Another survey was then conducted, which recorded a further drop in support for the government.
“Only a week later, in the Ogledalo Slovenije survey, the results of which will be published in the coming days, we recorded an even worse level of trust in the government as an institution, namely -37. The difference can be partly attributed to the context of the survey, since in the first case the question refers specifically to trust in the government ‘in making decisions, responding to crisis situations and running the country in general’, regardless of whether or not this government is politically supported, while in the second case in the general trust in the government as one of almost 30 observed institutions, and partly also by events in the days between the two measurements (statements by the Prime Minister on reforms and communication of parts of the government in this regard),” the agency wrote.
As they explain, the average assessment of the government’s work in individual areas is also falling. The government received the worst rating in the area of communication with residents. Let’s remember that the opposition, which during the previous and reformist government of Janez Janša called itself KUL, based a considerable part of its criticism of the government on miscommunication, so it is highly significant that according to the voters, it fared the worst in this area. It received a rating of 2.4 in March this year, last year in August it was rated 3.1.
Considering that the COVID-19 virus has almost disappeared from the public eye, it is not surprising that the evaluations in this regard do not change and at the same time it is also the best rated work of the government.
“The lowest rating was recorded by the government in the area of actions related to the costliness (2.3), last August the rating was half a point higher,” they wrote in Valicon.
The results of the shy pro-Russian government
A special chapter of the survey is a noticeable shift in the attitude of the population towards the war in Ukraine. After there was no doubt about the foreign policy direction of Janša’s government, Golob’s government and with it the Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon took a different path, which is pro-Western on the outside, however anything but that on the inside. Let’s just remember how the ruling coalition rejected a declaration that would describe Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. During Robert Golob’s mandate, letters from transition influencers, led by Milan Kučan and Danilo Türk, were also released to the public, calling on world leaders to immediately end the war in Ukraine, which the professional public quickly interpreted as a pro-Russian pamphlet. In short, subtle work, coordinated media coverage (with transition powers, read – HERE) yielded results.
“The most, that is 63% of the respondents, attribute responsibility for the war to Russia, which is eight percentage points less than in March last year. On the other hand, this time almost half of the respondents, i.e., 47%, attribute responsibility for the war in Ukraine to the USA, which is ten percentage points more than a year ago,” Valicon wrote.