Bulgaria’s three-way ruling coalition and opposition saw their public approval ratings take a hit in March in the wake of the Interior Ministry row, a poll by Alfa Research, carried by Dnevnik daily, showed on April 7.

The Cabinet's approval ratings dipped at the start of the month as a result of media reports that President Georgi Purvanov went on a hunting trip just days after deadly fire on the Sofia-Kardam train, followed by the media row regarding the double identity papers of Deputy Foreign Minister Feim Chaoushev.

The worst blow, however, was the media row concerning the work of the Interior Ministry, which made Interior Minister Roumen Petkov the least popular member of the Cabinet. Half of the respondents in the survey said that they were certain that Petkov knew of ties between high-ranking ministry officials and organised crime, while 44 per cent said that Petkov himself had such connections. Three in five respondents wanted Petkov sacked.

Three-quarters of respondents were unhappy with the Cabinet's overall performance, including respondents who would vote for one of the parties in the ruling coalition. The senior partner in the coalition, Bulgarian Socialist Party, lost two percentage points and could count on the support of just 16.5 per cent of respondents if elections were held at the weekend. Movement for Rights and Freedoms lost one percentage point to 6.1 per cent, and National Movement for Stability and Progress was unchanged at 2.1 per cent support.

Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) founded Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov also saw its approval rating dip two percentage points to 26.1 per cent, mainly due to its ambiguous stance in the Interior Ministry row. Among other opposition parties, only the Union of Democratic Forces showed a small increase in its public approval ratings, rising to three per cent from 2.4 per cent, while nationalistic Ataka dropped from 6.1 per cent to 5.4 per cent. Support for Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria and moderately nationalist Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (VMRO) remained unchanged at 1.4 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.

Despite the Government's low rating, the respondents polled by Alfa Research did not favour snap elections, preferring instead a Cabinet re-shuffle.

The pollster interviewed 1018 people for its survey between March 28 and April 3.