A monthly survey, conducted by Ipsos agency from December 1 to 20 among 982 adult citizens, shows that Human Shield has overtaken the SDP by 0.1 percentage point.
The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) remains the strongest party with the support of 28.9 percent of respondents, Human Shield is on 14.9 percent and the SDP on 14.8 percent. The margin of error is +/- 3.3 percent for the sample and +/- 3.6 percent for the party ratings, Ipsos said.
The results of a survey depend on its methodology, the chairman of the SDP main committee, Erik Fabijanic, told Hina, adding that a survey conducted by a Slovenian agency showed completely different results. According to that survey, the SDP is trailing seven percentage points behind the HDZ and is twice as strong as Human Shield, he said.
"Human Shield's popularity shouldn't be belittled, but this is not the real situation," he said, adding that the SDP should work more on its approval rating.
SDP secretary-general Niksa Vukas described the Ipsos survey as "yet another hoax" by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. "Plenkovic's factory of lies continues operating," he wrote on his Facebook page.
Vukas also attacked Ipsos Puls agency, saying that apart from tracking party approval ratings this agency also conducted various surveys for the government and public companies.
"This is obviously a conflict of interest. The latest fake survey released by this agency says that Human Shield has overtaken the SDP, which was Plenkovic's and this agency's aim. It was their deal to bring the SDP down," Vukas said.
In addition to prominent party members who have left the SDP recently, such as eight MPs, two less known officials, both members of the main committee, have also resigned the party's membership in the past week: a Zadar city councillor and a member of the leadership of the SDP's Sibenik-Knin County branch.