Confused Greeks Favor SYRIZA, Coalition

On the heels of an earlier poll this month that showed the major opposition Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) taking a big lead in Athens and Attica over the ruling New Democracy Conservatives of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, another survey shows voters both support and reject both the parties and their leaders.
Unable to shake the stigma of austerity and a series of scandals in the Greek news, Samaras’ party, after trading leads with its rivals for a year, have now been overtaken, the surveys showed with SYRIZA apparently benefiting from its opposition to the pay cuts, tax hikes, slashed pensions and worker firings Samaras has imposed on the orders of international lenders.
The poll conducted by Public Issue for the Efimerida ton Syntakton daily and published on Jan. 22 showed SYRIZA had a 3.5 percent margin over New Democracy, 31.5-28 percent, although respondents by a wide margin, 39-30 percent, favored Samaras over the leftist leader Alexis Tsipras to run the country, although 29 percent said they didn’t want either of them.
Further clouding the issue and adding to the confusion, ambivalent Greeks by a margin of 29-26 said while they want favor SYRIZA that they simultaneously believe the ruling coalition of New Democracy and its partner, the PASOK Socialists, are more competent than the leftists, essentially voting for all the parties and none of them at the same time.
PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, who was made Samaras’ Deputy Premier/Foreign Minister after supporting more austerity measures that have destroyed support for his party, is facing challenges from some of his members who said his blind backing of pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions have pushed it to the edge of extinction.
Remaining a staunch third was the ultra-extreme right Golden Dawn party which had 10 percent of the vote even though its leaders have been jailed or arrested on charges of operating a criminal gang and as the government tries to dismantle the group.
The fading PASOK was tied with the KKE Communists for fourth at 6.5 percent, followed by the Independent Greeks at 4.5 percent and the Democratic Left (DIMAR), which left the ruling coalition last year, still dead last with 3.5 percent, barely above the threshold needed to win seats in Parliament.
Earlier this month, a poll taken by GPO for Newcast showed even worse news for Samaras and his party and coalition, giving SYRIZA a 7.7 percent lead in Athens and Attica as Tsipiras predicted the government parties would be repudiated in May elections for Greek cities and towns and the European Parliament and sweep him into power.
That came in the wake of a series of arrests involving a scandal at the failed state-owned Hellenic Postbank, the defense ministry, a publisher charged with failing to pay his taxes and as Samaras is trying to assert the country is poised to make a comeback. Voters apparently aren’t buying it.