At the end of 2010 Boyko Borissov's cabinet is drawing stronger criticisms, the MBMD Institute of Social Surveys and Marketing found in a nationally representative poll presented on Tuesday. The December 11-17 survey was conducted among 1,103 Bulgarians aged 18 or over.

Institute Director Mira Radeva said 52 per cent of respondents criticized the government's social policy, incomes policy and pension reform.

The approval ratings of Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev and Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov remained almost unchanged from this time last year.

The two deputy prime ministers, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, lost respectively 18 per cent and 20 per cent approval.

A year and a half into GERB's term in office, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's approval rating is 44 per cent, with disapproval at 51 per cent. The government as a whole has an approval rating of 31 per cent and is disapproved by 65 per cent of respondents. The answers suggest that respondents do not see a great difference between this cabinet and the coalition cabinet of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the National Movement for Surge and Stability and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms before it, Radeva commented.

By comparison, Sergei Stanishev's cabinet was supported by 27 per cent and disapproved by 65 per cent of respondents after its first year and a half. Stanishev himself received 30 per cent approval and 61 per cent disapproval.

In 2002 Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's cabinet scored 30 per cent approval and 61 per cent disapproval. The prime minister's ratings were 35 per cent approval and 52 per cent disapproval.

In 1998 Ivan Kostov's cabinet had an approval rating of 46 per cent and a disapproval rating of 41 per cent. Kostov himself was trusted by 40 per cent of respondents and distrusted by 47 per cent.

The strengths of Borissov's cabinet are the fight against crime, national security and road infrastructure construction. On the contrary, health care and pension reform are its weakest points, Radeva said.

MBMD found that the approval ratings of all institutions and personalities slid at the end of December 2010 compared with a year earlier. The presidential institution lost 16 per cent approval. The government lost 18 percentage points to 31 per cent; the police lost 10 percentage points to 36 per cent; and the National Assembly is the least liked institution with 77 per cent disapproval as against 59 per cent a year earlier.

The State Agency for National Security, the court, the prosecution and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, all of which enjoy a relatively low approval, did not lose much trust in a year.

President Georgi Purvanov's approval rating slid 15 percentage points and Boyko Borissov lost nearly 20 percentage points of his approval rating.

The approval ratings of Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova and Socialist Party leader Sergei Stanishev remained almost unchanged.

EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva is the only politician with a positive rating: 48 per cent approval and 40 per cent disapproval.

Source: BTA