Government still popular, but losing trust ahead of elections

(CS) With the elections approaching, the latest Politmonitor survey has found that Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker continues to be regarded as the country's most competent politician, while a fifth of voters said they don't trust any political party.

The ranking saw the Prime Minister gain 2 percent compared with April this year, with 84 percent of those polled saying that the Premier is competent. Among the government's ministers he is followed by Jean Asselborn (74 percent), Etienne Schneider (70 percent), Luc Frieden (67 percent) and Claude Wiseler (63 percent), who complete the top five.

The minister who was judged the least competent was Culture and Justice Minister Octavie Modert, with just 32 percent.

DP top candidate Xavier Bettel was hot on the heels of Luxembourg's Premier, with 83 percent saying that he is a competent politician, down from 85 percent in April. The top five of non-government politicians also featured DP MEP Charel Goerens (70 percent), LSAP President Alex Bodry (53 percent), DP President Claude Meisch (53 percent) and Chamber of Deputies President Laurent Mosar (50 percent).

Bettel losing points but still most popular

In the popularity rankings, however, Juncker lost more than 10 percentage points over the past year. Some 73 percent of respondents found him likeable in September, compared to Jean Asselborn, who was voted the most popular government minister at 76 percent.

Also in the top five are Claude Wiseler and Mars Di Bartolomeo with 60 percent each, and Françoise Hetto-Gaasch at 59 percent.

Least liked government minister in the September study was Immigration and Employment Minister Nicolas Schmit at 31 percent.

Bettel remained the most popular of the non-government politicians, with 78 percent finding him likeable. However, he dropped from 85 percent in the April Politmonitor study.

He is followed by Charel Goerens (70 percent), Alex Bodry (50 percent), Claude Meisch (41 percent), and François Bausch (42 percent), with the latter three all losing points compared to April.

20% don't trust any political party

On the whole, the government enjoyed the trust of 51 percent of respondents, down from 55 percent in April this year, with the opposition gaining 6 percent and finding the approval of 44 percent of those polled.

With a third of votes, the CSV was chosen as the most trustworthy party. Meanwhile 20 percent of respondents said that they don't trust any political party. The LSAP and the DP received 15 percent of votes, followed by “déi Gréng” at 10 percent.

Politmonitor polled a representative group of 1,009 Luxembourg nationals aged 18 or over between August 27 and September 13 via telephone and internet. The study was carried out by TNS Ilres, and was commissioned by the “Luxemburger Wort” and RTL.