RPT-TABLE-Czech leftists catch up with ruling party

...with the ruling 
right-wing Civic Democrats (ODS) in approval ratings for the 
first time since last year's election, an opinion poll showed on 
Wednesday. 
    The poll by the CVVM agency showed both parties at 32 
percent, from 35 percent for the ODS and 29 percent for the CSSD 
last month. 
    However the ODS-led three-party coalition would win 50.5 
percent of the vote, above 46.5 percent for the opposition 
comprised of the Social Democrats and the far-left Communists. 
    The right-wing Civic Democrats (ODS) formed a cabinet with 
the centrist Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and the Green Party 
in January. 
    The coalition has just 100 seats in the lower house, but has 
been supported by two defectors from the Social Democrats. The 
defectors also helped the cabinet survive a vote of 
no-confidence earlier on Wednesday. 
    In April, the government presented fiscal reforms cutting 
spending and lowering taxes, which leftists say are mainly aimed 
at the rich.  
    The reforms however also sparked protests within the 
coalition, and their fate is uncertain in parliamentary readings 
due over the summer. 
    The government has said it would try provoke early election 
if the reforms fail in parliament over the summer. 
    A separate poll on Tuesday showed the ODS had halted a slide 
in popularity and led the CSSD by 2.3 percentage points. 
     
 DATE    INSTITUTE   ODS    CSSD   KSCM   KDU-CSL  Greens 
 June 20   CVVM      32.0   32.0   14.5    8.0      10.5 
 June 19   STEM      29.3   27.0   12.5    5.9       9.9 
 June 16   FI        33.5   30.8   12.7    8.8       9.2 
 May 23    CVVM      35.0   29.0   15.5    9.5       9.0 
 May 17    STEM      28.6   27.6   12.6    6.6       9.2 
 May 9     FI        34.5   32.3   12.2    9.1       7.0 
 April 18  STEM      29.2   24.9   10.9    6.6      11.6 
 April 18  CVVM      35.0   29.0   14.0    8.0      10.5 
 March 28  FI        35.1   26.9   13.0    8.2      11.0 
 March 21  CVVM      34.5   29.0   15.0    9.0       9.0 
 March 14  STEM      32.0   23.7   10.9    7.0      11.1 
 Feb 26    FI        34.7   29.5   13.3    7.3       7.6 
 Feb 21    CVVM      34.5   26.0   15.5    8.0      12.0 
 Feb 15    STEM      31.3   23.4   12.7    7.6      10.3 
 Feb 1     CVVM      37.0   24.5   16.0    8.0      11.5 
 Jan 26    FI        36.5   29.5   14.1    7.3       7.6 
 Jan 16    STEM      32.3   20.9   12.4    7.5      11.1 
 Dec 20    CVVM      38.0   23.5   11.5   11.0      12.0 
 Dec 15    STEM      32.9   20.6   13.1    7.0      11.2 
 Dec 07    FI        35.8   30.9   14.3    6.6       7.2 
 Nov 23    CVVM      41.0   26.0   11.0    7.0      11.0 
 Nov 15    STEM      35.1   20.7   10.9    7.5       9.4 
 Nov 10    FI        41.1   27.7   12.7    6.0       7.1 
 Oct 23    CVVM      36.0   30.5   15.0    6.0       9.5 
 Oct 16    FI        35.9   27.2   13.9    6.9       8.4 
 Oct 15    STEM      32.0   22.7   11.7    6.3      10.5 
 Sept 22   CVVM      37.0   29.5   13.0    8.0      10.0 
 Sept 21   STEM      32.8   26.6   10.0    4.2      10.3 
 Sept 18   FI        36.3   32.0   13.7    6.5       7.3 
 Aug 7     FI        41.0   30.8   12.3    6.3       6.9 
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June 2006 election   35.4   32.3   12.8    7.2       6.3 
  
    NOTE. The CVVM poll was conducted between June 4 and June 11 
among 1013 Czechs. 
 The parties are: 
 - Civic Democratic Party (ODS) - right wing, 
liberal-conservative 
 - The Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) - leftist 
 - Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party 
(KDU-CSL) - centrist 
 - The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) - far left 
 - The Greens - environmentalists, centrist. 
   Pollsters: The FI and CVVM results are based on a model 
predicting gains at the poll box, excluding those not willing to 
vote and undecided. 
   STEM results are direct voter preferences, and include 
replies from all respondents including those not willing to 
vote. Parties should thus win a larger than indicated share of 
the vote at the election. 
  
  Keywords: CZECH POLITICS/POLL