Focus agency between August 3-12, showed Mečiar`s Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) on top with 25 percent, down slightly from 25.9 percent in the previous poll by Focus in July. The survey put combined support for Mečiar`s three-party government at 34.3 percent, down from 35.9 percent in July. Meanwhile, the leading opposition grouping, the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK), rose to 23.7 percent from July`s 21.2 percent. Support for the four main opposition parties rose to 59.9 percent from July`s 55.1 percent. Slovakia will hold regular parliamentary elections on September 25 and 26 amid concerns from western governments the elections may not be free and fair. The United States and the European Union have recently criticised new changes to the electoral law which they say may skew the vote in favour of the government. Finishing in first place is important in the Slovak electoral system because by tradition that party is given the first opportunity to try and form a government. The opinion poll comes less than a week after HZDS lost its bid in the Slovak Supreme Court to block the SDK from registering with the voting commission as a single entity. HZDS claimed the SDK, an alliance of five parties, should not be allowed register as a single party, but the court rejected the case saying it was groundless. The poll rating of the newly-created opposition Party of Civic Understanding (SOP) stood at 14.5 percent compared with 14.2 percent in July while the reformed communist Party of the Democratic Left (SDL) rose to 12.5 percent from 9.8 percent. The ethnic Hungarian Coalition (SMK) dropped to 9.2 percent in August from 9.9 percent one month ago. Support of a junior member in the ruling coalition, the ultra-right Slovak National Party (SNS), was unchanged at 7.2 percent in August. The other coalition partner, the leftist Workers Party (ZRS), remained below the five percent threshold required for parliamentary representation, slipping to 2.1 percent from 2.8 percent in the previous poll.