According to Alpha Research, the poll, done between September 23 and 30, showed that government had shed the increased confidence that Bulgaria’s holding of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU had brought it in the first half of 2018.
The ruling coalition also was damaged by inter-party confrontations among the United Patriots, as well as a series of problems in the summer, such as animal sicknesses, the prolonged collapse of the Trade Register, and especially the Svoge bus crash.
The release of the poll on October 8 coincided with an announcement that the death toll in the crash was now 20, with the latest victim to succumb after an initial death toll of 17 on August 20.
These factors had increased public criticism of how those in power were coping with their duties, the poll found.Political Analysis of Plamen Assenov.
