If presidential elections were held on Sunday, President Traian Basescu would be voters’ first choice, with 30.8 per cent of the votes, according to a poll run by the Social Studies Group 2000 (GSS). The survey, run between May 3 and 5 and made public yesterday, also shows that Basescu would be followed by Social-Democrat leader Mircea Geoana, with 24.3 per cent of the votes.
The next places are taken by National Liberal Party leader Crin Antonescu, who would be voted by 20.3 per cent, George Becali, with 7.8 per cent, Prince Radu, with 6.3 per cent. The list is closed by nationalist Greater Romanian Party (PRM) leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor, with 5.5 per cent.
However, 41.9 per cent of respondents said they had a poor opinion on Basescu’s activity, while 37 per cent said Basescu’s work was neither good nor bad and 17.1 per cent said the president’s activity was good.
When asked whether they believed any politician would be able to defeat Basescu in the presidential run, 50 per cent of respondents answered affirmatively, while 25.7 per cent said they didn’t think it possible. From among those who answered affirmatively, 37.2 per cent named Geoana as the possible winner, while 30.2 per cent named Antonescu. About 6.8 per cent said Prince Radu has chances to defeat Basescu, while 5.3 per cent named Vadim Tudor and Becali and 4 per cent named Bucharest General Mayor Sorin Oprescu.
On the other hand, the survey shows that Oprescu is first when it comes to people’s confidence, with 44.7 per cent of respondents saying they trust the general mayor. He is followed by Antonescu (36.2 per cent).
As for the upcoming elections for the European Parliament, 31.1 per cent of respondents would vote for the Social Democrats, followed by the Democrat-Liberals, with 29.6 per cent and the National Liberal Party, with 16.6 per cent.
The poll, with a 3 per cent margin of error, was run on 1,092 respondents in 118 localities (64 in the urban area, 54 in the rural area and Bucharest).
