STEM: Social Democrats leading, Civic Democrats gaining

The STEM polling agency has published its latest survey of voting preferences showing a stronger position for the centre-right Civic Democratic Party but a lasting and solid lead for their rivals, the Social Democrats. The results show the latter party having lost less than 1% of their standing in the company’s January poll, while the Civic Democrats have gained an additional nine hypothetical seats in parliament. TOP 09 and the Communist Party kept the same results, with 19 and 31 seats, respectively. Meanwhile the new Věci veřejné, (Public Affairs), party stayed just below the five percent threshold needed to win a place in parliament. The survey also suggest voter turnout of 54%, which is the highest since spring of 2009. Parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic are scheduled for May.