The CIS places the PP almost three points ahead of the PSOE in voting intention after the Galician elections and the outbreak of the 'Koldo case'

The PP is almost three points ahead of the PSOE in voting intention after the Galician elections and the outbreak of the

Koldo case

, according to the March barometer of the Sociological Research Center, made public this Wednesday.

If a general election were held, the Popular Party would win with 34% of support, compared to the PSOE, which would obtain 31.3%.

Vox rises two points compared to the previous month and would be the third most voted force, with 9.9%, and Sumar, which governs with the PSOE, would gather 9.2% of voters and lose one point.

In the last month, the Socialists have dropped 1.7 points in voting intention, while the Popular Party has risen almost one point.

Labor also registers a drop of 0.7 points for Podemos, which moved to the mixed group of Congress in December, and which would obtain 2.2% of the ballots.

The March survey is the first to be published after the outbreak of the

Koldo case,

which investigates the charging of illegal commissions in contracts for the purchase of masks in the middle of the pandemic.

Koldo García, a position of maximum trust of the former Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, is involved in it.

It is also the first after the Galician elections of February 18, in which the PP revalidated its absolute majority, the BNG rose strongly and the PSOE sank.

By blocs, the right (PP and Vox) would obtain 43.4% in voting intention, almost three and a half points ahead of the union of PSOE and Sumar (40.5%).

The Catalan independence groups register unequal results.

ERC, with 1.9% voting intention, falls two tenths;

while Junts, with 1.2%, gains another two tenths.

PNV, with 0.9%, loses one tenth.

Regarding preferences for the presidency of the Government, 23.3% indicate Pedro Sánchez (PSOE), followed by 16.5% who would like Alberto Núñez Feijóo (PP).

6.3% name Yolanda Díaz (Sumar) and another 5.9% favor Santiago Abascal (Vox).

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The survey was prepared with some 3,931 telephone interviews that were carried out between March 1 and 5, so the first information about the plot being investigated by the National Court was already known.

At the end of February, former Minister Ábalos became a deputy of the mixed group of the Congress of Deputies and days later the PP began to ask for the resignation of the president of the Congress Board, Francina Armengol, because she was president of the Balearic Islands when his administration bought masks from the investigated company.

In the field work of the March barometer, the closing of the amnesty law agreement between PSOE, ERC and Junts to present it to the Justice Commission did not enter.

Nor the arrest of the leader of the Coalition for Melilla for vote buying and fraud in public contracts within an operation derived from the postal ballot scandal in the 2023 regional elections.

Concern about corruption has entered the list of the country's top 10 problems spontaneously cited by respondents.

It has been placed in number six, below the economic crisis (cited by 29%), unemployment (18%), the bad behavior of politicians (16.8%), the Government and specific political parties ( 14.9%) and problems related to the quality of employment (14.8%).

In the March barometer, corruption and fraud have been mentioned by 12.2%, compared to 4.9% who mentioned them in February.

The dissemination of this survey occurs just one day after an article by the president of the CIS, José Félix Tezanos, was published, in which he stated that the PP's fear of losing the Galician elections mobilized activism in Galicia with “gratifications to the shellfish harvesters” and “little nuns organizing the vote.”

The regional PP demanded the resignation of Tezanos on Tuesday for “insulting” and “treating Galicians like fools.”

They have also requested their appearance at the Senate Constitutional Commission to report on their “peculiar assessments in which the electoral results refute their polls,” according to EP.

Farmers' problems

The barometer also includes a series of questions about the recent demands of the agricultural sector, with which 60% of those surveyed say they know a lot or a lot and with which 47.3% agree completely.

57.6% of citizens assure that the protests, such as tractor-trailers, strikes or port blockades, have not affected them and the main problems they point out are the price imbalance in the farm-to-table chain (59.4% ) and unfair competition from third countries (56.3%).

Regarding the Administration that must resolve these problems, the European Union surpasses the Government of Spain, although by a small difference.

36.6% point to the first option, compared to 35.9% who believe that the solution depends on the Executive.

The autonomous communities are named by 7.5%.