More than a third of all respondents (33.6 pct) deem Butkevičius, leader of the Social Democratic Party, as the best candidate for the position, indicating a rise in public confidence in Butkevičius by nearly 7 percentage points since October.
According to the poll, the runner-up for the prime minister post – Labor Party leader Viktor Uspaskich – is far behind Butkevičius. Uspaskich was supported by 9.9 percent of those polled, down by a third over the past two months.
The third most-wanted head of the government is former parliamentary speaker Irena Degutienė of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (conservatives), backed by 7 percent of respondents.
Another 6.8 percent of those polled said they wanted to see the conservative leader, former prime minister Andrius Kubilius, at the helm of the government.
5th is Social Democratic MEP Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (4.5 pct), followed by the Order and Justice Party's leader MEP Rolandas Paksas and the leader of the Liberal Movement Eligijus Masiulis, backed by 3.4 percent and 3.3 percent of respondents, respectively.
The poll of 1,009 residents between ages o 18 and 75 was carried out by public opinion and market research company Spinter Tyrimai (Spinter Surveys) by way of standardized interview on 12-18 December.
