According to a public opinion poll conducted by the STEM agency, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Jan Hamáček performed best during the coronavirus crisis followed by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch.
Most Czechs perceive the government’s work positively. Hamáček’s work during the crisis is evaluated positively by 70 percent of Czechs while 65 percent viewed Babiš positively. Vojtěch received 60 percent.
However, the evaluations of other ministers’ work are more inconsistent, which is the case for Finance Minister Alena Schillerová, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Jana Maláčová and Minister of Transport Karel Havlíček, whose approval ratings are more ambiguous.
The STEM agency asked the Czech public about members of the government who were most involved in resolving the crisis.
“In general, it can be concluded that these politicians did well during the crisis, according to the majority of public opinion,” STEM said.
Finance and Labor Ministers Alena Schillerová and Jana Maláčová, respectively, were positively assessed by 53 percent of respondents, but more than 40 percent of people were critical of their work.
Approximately half of the public perceives Minister of Transport Karel Havlíček’s work during the coronavirus crisis positively, 34 percent of people evaluate it negatively and 16 percent of Czechs are unsure about his performance.
“An important finding from the survey is the different assessment depending on the subjective experience of the coronavirus crisis effects,” the agency found.
More than half of the citizens managed the emergency measures without any problems, a third with minor problems, and for a tenth of the people, it was a stressful situation.
Taking into account political sympathies, the survey offered different results. Hamáček is positively evaluated among supporters of all political parties. On the contrary, Babiš did not score positive ratings among supporters of the government’s opposition.
The survey took place from May 22 to June 1 and involved 1,086 people.
Title image: Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Jan Hamacek addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018, at the United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
