Support for Center climbing amid coronavirus crisis

Photo: Tairo Lutter

The approval ratings of Estonia’s opposition parties are at a record low as the country is making efforts to handle the coronavirus crisis, while support for the Center Party, the government coalition’s senior force, is constantly growing, it appears from a survey commissioned by the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues and carried out by pollster Norstat. 

The latest results show that the Reform Party is supported by 31.6 percent, the Center Party by 23 percent and the Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE) by 17 percent of voting-age citizens. The rating of the Center Party, which has been growing for three weeks in a row, is 1.1 percentage points higher than last week. The ratings of other parties did not change significantly. 

The top three are followed by the Social Democratic Party (SDE) with 8.5 percent, Estonia 200 with 8.2 percent and Isamaa with 6.4 percent.

The three parties of the ruling coalition – Center, EKRE and Isamaa – are supported by 46.4 percent of voters and those of the opposition by 40.1 percent. The rating of the opposition continues to be at its lowest level since the March 3 general elections in 2019.

The Institute for the Study of Societal Issues (MTU Ühiskonnauuringute Instituut) is a think tank established in January 2016.