A new survey, conducted by GPO for Mega TV Channel, reveals that SYRIZA’s popularity in the polls has been extended to 6.5% over the governing New Democracy party. The newly launched “To Potami” party appeals to 6% of Greeks, while the percentage of extreme right-wing Golden Dawn party is slightly down, about equal to that of the Communist Party KKE (5.7%).
Official standings are as follows:
New Democracy: 20.2%
SYRIZA: 26.7%
PASOK: 4%
ANEL (Independent Greeks) : 3%
Golden Dawn: 5.7%
KKE: 5.7%
To Potami: 6%
LAOS: 2.1%
ANTARSYA: 1.6%
Other: 4.7%
Blank vote: 2.1%
Undecided: 18.2%
The poll also reveals that Alexis Tsipras is Greece ‘s most popular politician, with 42.8% of Greeks viewing him positively, followed by Antonis Samaras at 41%. Third in popularity is Stavros Theodorakis (To Potami) with 40%, followed by Fotis Kouvelis (Democratic Left) with 34% and Thanos Koutsoubas (KKE) with 33.6%. Panos Kammenos (Independent Greeks) received 29%, Evangelos Venizelos (PASOK) 22.8% and Nikos Michaloliakos (Golden Dawn) 11.6%.
However, Antonis Samaras is still deemed the most appropriate choice for the country’s prime minister, with a 43.1% approval rate (showing a slight decrease of 1.5% compared to a previous survey). Alexis Tsipras gathered 37.2% of votes – 8.2% higher than a previous GPO poll.
‘No’ to early elections
On the whole, Greeks oppose early elections. 55.7% of respondents said that they want the president of the republic to be elected by this Parliament, while the opposite view gathered 40.3% of votes.
Greeks stand divided when asked about the proposal made by the opposition to overthrow the government; 45.9% of respondents agree with SYRIZA’s demands to hold early elections, while 50.5% disagree.
62.4% believe that a non-political person would suit best the position of the president of the republic, while only 24% believe that the next president should be a politician. A large percentage of those polled on this particular point did not respond (13.6%).
Is SYRIZA ready to govern?
36% believe that SYRIZA is ready to govern, while 61.8% believe the exact opposite. This percentage has been steadily on the rise for the last months.
Regarding continuing negotiations with Greece’s lenders, 42.5% of respondents stated that the current government should continue its talks with the troika, while 48.9% stated that a new government – that is, one that would result from elections being held now – would be the best to continue negotiations.
More than half of citizens participating in the poll (52.5%) believe that the risk of leaving the euro has finally passed. The opposite view is supported by 41.2% of respondents. Furthermore, 54.1% of respondents believe that the lenders can erase most of Greece’s debt, while the opposite view is supported by 43.2% of respondents.
Asked whether the country should begin the process for leaving the euro, 35.6% stated they are in favor of leaving the common currency zone, while 61% are in favor of remaining within the common currency zone.
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