Nearly half of Poles dissatisfied with president's performance - poll

Almost half of the respondents to a CBOS poll expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of Polish President Andrzej Duda, his weakest result since he took office in 2015.

In total, 49 percent said they were unhappy with their president’s performance, and, in comparison with the previous poll, conducted in late September/early October, the number of people giving the president a positive assessment fell by 1 percentage point (pp). Those with a critical opinion rose by 12 pp, while 9 percent of those polled had no opinion (up 1 pp).

CBOS said that the president's rating is now at its lowest point since he took office in 2015. The survey also showed that, for the first time, the proportion of negative opinions exceeded positive assessments (49 percent against 42 percent).

Those satisfied with the head of state's performance are mostly potential supporters of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party (97 percent), as well as those declaring a right-wing viewpoint (77 percent), religious practitioners, especially those participating in religious services several times a week (70 percent), senior citizens (62 percent), those with primary or vocational education (64 percent and 50 percent, respectively), those with a low per capita monthly income (from PLN 1,000/EUR 220.2 to PLN 1,500/EUR 330.4 at 61 percent), rural dwellers (51 percent) and people working on private agricultural holdings (57 percent).

Those expressing dissatisfaction were typified by supporters of the opposition, especially of the Left party (95 percent) and Civic Coalition (KO, 93 percent), people with a left-wing viewpoint (86 percent) and those not engaged in religious activity (76 percent), those with the highest income per household (77 percent), residents of large cities (71 percent), younger respondents (between the ages of 18 and 24, at 74 percent), people with higher education (66 percent), managers and specialists (72 percent), office and administration workers (63 percent) and private entrepreneurs (63 percent).

The study was carried out by CBOS on October 19-29, on a representative sample of 1,040 adult Polish residents.