PM Says Poll Shows 52% of Citizens Accept Constitution Change Deferred Effect

Citing an on-site and telephone poll conducted in October for the needs of his party, VMRO-DPMNE, PM Hristijan Mickoski said 52% of citizens found acceptable a deferred effect of the constitutional changes, that is, them entering into force once the country joined the EU.

39% were against, while 9% declined to answer the question. Percentages are similar also when it comes to whether they agree to the changes being made if the EU provides guarantees about the identity and Bulgaria enforces part of verdicts concerning the Macedonian minority. However, when it comes to the French proposal, in its current form, just 28% support it, whereas 53% are against.

Asked about the direction of the country, 49.9% said it was moving in a positive one, whereas 36.8% believe the opposite is the case. When it comes to the work of the government in the first 100 days of its term, 56% have a positive stand, whereas 30.9% presented a negative view.

October also saw a telephone poll, conducted by IPIS, on party and politician ratings. VMRO-DPMNE, with 26%, has a big lead over SDSM (7%), DUI (7%), VLEN (7%), Levica (5%), and ZNAM (4%).

When it comes to politicians, Mickoski is still the most popular one, with 27.8%, followed by DUI leader Ali Ahmeti (8.6%), and SDSM leader Venko Filipce (5.5%). Ex-Presidents Branko Crvenkovski and Stevo Pendarovski, as well as ex-PM Nikola Gruevski, are at the bottom of the list, each with 1%.