The Parsifal Agency’s public opinion poll reveals a narrow difference in the number of voters that would decide for Nataša Pirc Musar and those who would vote for Anže Logar (namely, the difference is only 0.3 percentage points). The first two presidential candidates are then followed by Alojz Kovšca, Vladimir Prebilič, Ivo Vajgl, Sabina Senčar and Nina Krajik.
The Parsifal Agency’s public opinion poll was conducted between the 30th of August and the 2nd of September and was the first to measure the mood among the voters following the withdrawal of the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda) candidate Marta Kos from the race. The prediction that her voters would automatically be transferred to another candidate on the left, Nataša Pirc Musar, has not yet shown in public opinion.
If there was a second round of the presidential elections, Nataša Pirc Musar would get 42.1 percent of the vote, and Anže Logar would get 35.2 percent., while 22.6 percent of the voters would be undecided. It, therefore, looks like the situation is very similar to the one in 2007 when Lojze Peterle led in the first round with just under 29 percent, and Danilo Türk then convincingly won in the second round with 68.03 percent of the vote. At that time, 57.67 percent of all eligible voters voted in the first round, and 58.46 percent voted in the second round – which may indicate that Peterle’s electorate was convinced of his victory and stayed home for the second round, while Türk’s electorate united and went out to vote. The upcoming elections will show us if this experience has taught us anything.
The public opinion poll also found that the most important quality a presidential candidate should have, according to the respondents, is honesty (18.5 percent), followed by decisiveness (6.1 percent), and insight/intelligence/education (5 percent). Other qualities that are important to the respondents are that the candidate listens to the people and is experienced, honest and forthright, but also undefined and principled. Whether Pirc Musar has proved to be honest and sincere in recent days is for each voter to decide, but the fact is that her statements about the meeting between her husband and Tomaž Vesel have not been consistent. Interestingly, credibility was at the bottom of the list of desirable qualities in a President of the Republic.
The survey included 703 respondents, of which 51.2 percent were women. The average age of the participants is 53.7 years, and the standard deviation is 16.3 years. The majority of the respondents are from the oldest age group (49.1 percent), a slightly smaller share of participants belongs to the middle age group (32.8 percent), and the smallest number of respondents is from the youngest age group (18.1 percent). The majority of the respondents have completed high school (34.2 percent), followed by those with completed high education or higher (27.4 percent), 20.7 percent of respondents have finished vocational school, and 17.6 percent have either completed or have not completed primary school. The majority of the respondents currently reside in a small village or hamlet (56.1 percent), followed by those who live in the city (28.1 percent) or a smaller town (15.7 percent). Most of the respondents are from Central Slovenia (26.0 percent), followed by the Podravska (15.2 percent) and Savinjska (12.4 percent) regions.
Sara Bertoncelj
