Photo: aftodioikisi.gr
The results of a poll conducted by Kappa Research for the Sunday edition of "To Vima" newspaper are positive for the new government. Society seems to trust the new ministers and welcomes the radical reforms in the public sector, ranking the dismissals of civil servants which will be the first ones in 100 years.
So, 60.6% of respondents state they agree with the cuts in the public sector whereas 36% of respondents oppose them.
At the same time, the polls show changes in the Greek political scene over the last month. The results, however, are quite contradictory.
The three parties that record positive results in connection with the recent events are New Democracy, PASOK and SYRIZA. The support for the main opposition party has increased after its recent congress and the enhanced leadership profile of Alexis Tsipras.
The attitude towards New Democracy’s coalition partner, PASOK, is also improving which, according to analysts, is due to the involvement of party leader Evangelos Venizelos in the government.
The results of the poll conducted by Kappa Research show that if there were elections in Greece now, New Democracy would gain the lead with 23.2% followed by the opposition SYRIZA party with 22.8% and PASOK with 7.3%.
Golden Dawn continues to be the third political force in the country with 9.7% followed by the Greek Communist Party with 4.9%, Independent Greeks 4.5% and Democratic Left with 2.8%.
The changes in the popularity of the political leaders are indicative of the trends among society as well. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his coalition partner Evangelos Venizelos record an improvement in this category whereas Fotis Kouvelis, leader of Democratic Left, which has withdrawn from the cabinet, and Nikolaos Michaloliakos, leader of Golden Dawn, report a decline. Nikolaos Michaloliakos ranks last and the positive votes for him are only 16%.
The popularity of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Minister of Administrative Reform, is the highest among the ministers, followed by Adonis Georgiadis, Minister of Health, and Yiannis Mihelakis, Minister of Interior, who are also preparing to introduce significant reforms in their departments.
Antonis Samaras is considered as the most appropriate for Prime Minister with 44.6% versus Alexis Tsipras with 31.4%. 41.6% of respondents believe that a coalition government headed by New Democracy is capable of solving the problems of the Greek economy. The percentage of those Greeks who believe that a coalition government led by SYRIZA would deal with them better is 36.2%.
A day later, "I Efimerida ton Syntakton" newspaper ("Editors’ newspaper " – author’s note) presented the results of another poll according to which SYRIZA leads in the race by 2% cent.
The poll carried out by Pulse RC shows that SYRIZA would win the elections in Greece if they were held today. In particular, the results of the parties are as follows:
SYRIZA - 23.5%
New Democracy - 21.5%
Golden Dawn - 14.5%
PASOK - 7.5%
Communist Party - 6.5%
Independent Greeks - 4.5%
Democratic Left - 3.5%
Green environmentalists - 1.5%
The percentage of the unclear vote is 11%.