Party ratings: Center Party support grows as EKRE's falls
The Center Party has made some gains in support in recent years, while the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) has lost ground, according to a recent poll.
The three coalition parties, the Reform Party, Eesti 200 and the Social Democrats (SDE) between them polled at 38.6 percent according to the survey, conducted by pollsters Norstat on behalf of conservative think tank the Institute for Societal Studies (MTÜ Ühiskonnauuringute Instituut).
By comparison, the three opposition parties combined – Isamaa, the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) and the Center Party – polled at 55.4 percent.
By party, with a view to a Riigikogu election rather than a European Parliament election, Isamaa remain most-supported, polling at 27.1 percent. Reform polled at 18.6 percent in the latest Norstat survey, followed by EKRE, at 15.9 percent.
Support for Isamaa and Reform is largely unchanged over the past week according to Norstat, whereas EKRE's rating has dropped by 2.9 percentage points in four weeks.
These "top" three are followed by SDE at 14.6 percent, Center at 12.4 percent and Eesti 200, who polled above the 5 percent threshold required to win seats in an election (5.8 percent).
Most noteworthy from these figures is Center's rise in support by 1.1 percentage points on the week, and 2.6 percentage points over the previous four weeks.
Norstat reports that based on these ratings, Isamaa would win 31 seats if a Riigikogu election were held today, practically doubling its current tally, whereas Reform's would move in the opposite direction to 20 seats, down from the current 37.
EKRE would remain roughly the same at 17, SDE would see a slight rise to 15 seats, while Center would enjoy a more than doubling of its current number – following a mass exodus from the party in the fall and winter – to 13 seats.
Eesti 200 would only be left with five seats, down from its current 14, again based on a notional Riigikogu election taking place right now.
The next Riigikogu election is in 2027, while the European Parliament election starting next week sees a broader franchise (all EU citizens resident in Estonia are eligible to vote).
Norstat conducts its polls on a weekly basis and aggregates the results over the preceding four weeks.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Andrew Whyte
