Based on the results published by the Lietuvos Rytas daily on Saturday, 22.4 percent of people in Lithuania say the president is the politician who best represents their interests, compared to 21.2 percent in June. 69.1 percent have a favorable opinion about the president. The percentage was 65.5 percent in June, the survey showed.
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius, leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, was named by 14.7 percent as the politician who represents their interests best, a drop from 15 percent in June. The percentage of people with a favorable opinion about the prime minister dropped slightly to 61.2 percent from 61.9 percent in June.
MEP Rolandas Paksas, leader of the ruling Order and Justice party, came in third, with 3.8 percent of people saying that he is the politician representing their interests best, compared to 2.9 percent in June. 35.76 percent have a favorable opinion about the politician, up from 33.2 percent in June.
Viktor Uspaskich, founder and ex-leader of the ruling Labor Party, saw his popularity plummet following his conviction in the party's fraudulent bookkeeping case. 3.5 percent of those surveyed said in July that Uspaskich was the politician representing their interests best, compared to 5.8 percent in June.
Opposition leader Andrius Kubilius, chairman of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, received 3.4 percent of votes, compared to 2.2 percent in June.
Among favorably evaluated politicians, Environment Minister Valentinas Mazuronis of the Order and Justice party received 43.4 percent in July, compared to 41.2 percent in June.
He was followed by Health Minister Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis with 41.3 percent in July (39.8 percent in June).
Eligijus Masiulis, leader of the opposition Liberal Movement, was named by 35.5 percent (compared to 37.5 percent in June), followed by Social Democratic Minister of National Defense Juozas Olekas (32.6 and 33.1 percent respectively), Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius (32.1 and 30.5 percent respectively) and Speaker of the Seimas Vydas Gedvilas of the ruling Labor Party (24 and 24.3 percent respectively).
The survey for the Lietuvos Rytas daily was carried out by public relations and market research company Vilmorus on July 5-15.
Good month for conservatives
Meanwhile the popularity of Lithuania's opposition Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats and the ruling Order and Justice party rose in July, while other parties saw their popularity ratings drop, the survey has revealed.
The survey shows that 26.6 percent of people would vote for the ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, if general elections were held on the upcoming Sunday. A month earlier, 27.2 percent would have voted for the party.
The opposition Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats came in second with 11.4 percent, compared to 8.9 percent in June.
9 percent said they would vote for the ruling Order and Justice party, up from 5.8 percent in June.
The ruling Labor Party saw its popularity rating drop following a guilty ruling in the party's fraudulent bookkeeping case. 8.8 percent said they would vote for the party, down from 9.6 percent last month.
The opposition Liberal Movement saw its rating drop to 5,9 percent from 6.2 percent.
The remaining parties would fail to exceed the 5-percent threshold to qualify for seats. 12 percent said they would not vote at all and 16.3 percent said they did not know who to vote for.
