Prime Minister says people shouldn't be influenced by polls

People shouldn't be influenced and manipulated by the opinion polls that are currently being released in connection with the upcoming Slovak presidential election, said Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) before the Cabinet session on Wednesday. The most recent polls show Maroš Šefčovič of the ruling coalition party Smer-SD - Pellegrini's own party - trailing behind Zuzana Čaputová of the social-liberal party Progressive Slovakia. The prime minister also stated that he feels polls are sometimes carried out in order to modify the mood in society, adding that he views himself as a pragmatist who doesn't get very excited about the results of opinion polls. He said he believes that people will decide who to vote for based on the election programmes of individual presidential candidates.