Main opposition New Democracy (ND) posted a 6.8 per cent lead over ruling PASOK in a GPO opinion poll released this week on private MEGA television station, although ND was 7.7 per cent behind the ‘undecided’ vote.
The poll was conducted between Thursday and Monday on a sampling of 1011 people throughout Greece. More specifically, with respect to voters’ intention, ND amassed 22.3 per cent against 15.5 per cent for PASOK, while the undecided vote among the respondents was 30 per cent.
These were followed by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) with 9.8 per cent and the Radical Left Coalition (Syriza) with 4.8 per cent, while the Democratic Left (Dimar), Democratic Alliance (Disy), Ecologists Greens and the Citizens’ Chariot (Arma Politon) would not surpass the 3 per cent threshold required to enter parliament, on the basis of the poll.
On the question of who is the most suitable candidate for prime minister, respondents favoured ND leader Antonis Samaras first (22.5 per cent), followed by Prime Minister and PASOK leader George Papandreou (16.1 per cent). Since February, Papandreou has suffered a major decline in the same poll, and Samaras has also posted a decline, although a very small one. A majority (52 per cent) of respondents believe that early elections should not be called, against 45.6 per cent who opt for snap elections.
Also, 50 per cent believe early elections will be held, against 42 per cent who believe early elections will not be called. The poll results also indicated that voters do not want a single-party government by any party. In response to a question on which government would be better able to deal with the crisis, 8.9 per cent opted for a PASOK government under Papandreou and 14.7 per cent opted for an ND government under Samaras, while 36.5 per cent wanted a coalition by the two main parties, with 38.1 per cent responding that no government is capable of dealing with the crisis.
Source: Athens News
