Greeks Don't Trust Their Government

In another of the eternal Greek contradictions, a survey by Eurobarometer carried out for the European Commission has found that 90 percent of Greeks tend not to trust their government, but they would vote back in the same two parties, the New Democracy Conservatives and PASOK Socialists, who created the country’s crushing economic crisis and now in a coalition government trying to solve the mess they made.
The poll, which was based on a sample of 1,000 interviewees, found that Greeks are equally distrusting of their Parliament, with 89 percent saying they tended not to trust MPs, who are chosen by the parties and not by the electorate.
Faith in the European Union was slightly higher, with 19 percent of Greeks saying they tended to trust the Brussels- and Strasbourg-based institution. The survey found that disappointment about the current state of the Greek economy continues, with 98 percent of Greeks describing it as “bad.”
However, there are signs that pessimism about the economy’s future are easing slightly, if you could say that. The poll found that 62 percent of Greeks expect the situation to worsen, which is 14 percent less than in the previous Eurobarometer in the fall of 2012.
With particular regard to the situation of their household, 78% of the Greeks and 35% of the EU citizens, state that things are “bad”, while 58% of the Greeks considers that their personal professional status is bad, compared to the EU average of 30%.
As regards their expectations for the next 12 months, 62% of the Greeks estimates that the country’s economic condition will deteriorate (14% improvement in comparison to the previous Eurobarometer of Autumn 2012), while only 11% in the EU expresses a similar opinion (6% improvement in comparison to the previous poll). The Greeks are pessimistic about their professional life, as 35% of the country’s citizens believe that things will get worse, while the respective percentage for the EU is 11%.
For the Greeks, the two main issues that the country is facing are unemployment (65%) and the economic status (49%), while the corresponding percentages in the EU are 51% and 33% respectively. On a more personal level, the biggest concerns for the Greeks are the economic status (31%, compared to 18% for the EU), the high taxation (30%, compared to 16%), the unemployment (27%, compared to 22%) and the high cost of living (28 percent compared to 41 percent).