The latest polls show that the government is steadily losing ground, as public confidence has dropped considerably.

A poll conducted by the Alpha Research agency, and presented on Bulgarian National Radio on Sunday, indicated that support for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg has plunged by 20 percentage points since it took power in July.

"Initially, the government was hyper popular, enjoying 80 per cent approval," said Boriana Dimitrova from Alpha Research. Now confidence is about 60 per cent. In Dimitrova's view, the present decline is, to some extent, a normal process, given the government's extraordinary popularity when it first took power.

Sociologist Ivo Zhelev, from the National Public Opinion Poll Centre, also announced that, at the end of September, the government was approved by 60 per cent of Bulgarians. Even at that time, there were symptoms of a sharp decline, Zhelev said. In his view, the government is "aging quickly" and this tendency will persist.

Both opinion poll experts shared the view that one of the reasons for the drop in public confidence is the disappointment with the restrictive measures which the Cabinet has applied or plans to apply. Another reason is the massive withdrawal of confidence by the supporters of the Bulgarian Socialist Party after it became clear that the socialists and the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII) would not name a joint candidate for president.

Three months ago, Saxe-Coburg said that raising the standard of living within 800 days was his prime objective. But the prime minister, who still embodies many Bulgarians' hopes for a better life, has seen his popularity decline after being forced to take a number of unpopular measures.

Bulgaria dropped its forecast growth for 2002 from 4.5 to four per cent under pressure from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF also prompted Saxe-Coburg's government to scrap a number of its more radical plans to boost the economy and recommended a more prudent fiscal policy.

Since October 1, heating and electricity costs went up by 10 per cent, although the state is helping the poorest citizens to pay for this expense.

The battle against corruption, another of the government's main objectives, has begun to be realized with drastic measures taken on border posts and an invitation from the economy minister, Nikolai Vassilev, for investors to call him directly if they are asked for bribes. However, the only tip-off so far, related to the privatization of Varna Shipyard, became nothing else but a source for media speculation.

Unaffected by poll results, most of the ministers gave a highly favourable assessment of the work of the government as a whole and of their ministries during the first 100 days in power.

The economy minister, Nikolai Vassilev, described the government's first 100 days as very tense. But, in his opinion, it was all worth the effort since, from the government's point of view and from the point of view of most Bulgarians, the country was not the same any more.

The opposition, however, did not show too much appreciation for what the government has done or is planning to do. The deputy chairman of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and former Finance Minister Muravei Radev said on Tuesday that the Cabinet's first 100 days in power were characterized by chaos in the administration, poor personnel policy, conflicting deeds, and unkept promises.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party saw a discrepancy between the promises of the NMSII and the government's program for social policy, investment policy, the budget, and relations with foreign investors.

Also assessing the government's first 100 days, Zheliazko Hristov, president of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), predicted attacks by the political opposition and worker protests from entire economic sectors.