The image of the government is cracking with rapid pace, while New Democracy cannot get political advantage from the problems of government. The biggest challenge for both parties is to bring justice for the economic impasse. Meanwhile, eight out of ten Greeks are worried about their pensions after the voted reforms.
Eight out of ten Greeks are worried about their pensions, and about half of respondents to a public opinion poll made by Kappa Research for Vima newspaper, consider that the pension reform is not going in the right direction. The study was done immediately after the announcement of the reforms by the government and 1212 people across the country participated in it.
When asked whether they are worried about how money will be found for their pensions, 53.5% responded that are worried, 26.9% are very worried, 10.7% are not too worried, and 7.6% are not worried at all. However 68.5 percent of respondents believe, that major reforms are needed, while 21.7 percent believe that probably reforms are necessary. The majority have the opinion that the social security law is not done correctly.
Most respondents - 39.3 percent are worried about the amount of pension they will receive, while 32.4 percent are interested in the retirement age, and 18.5% are worried about how much money they will need to save, to supplement their basic pension.
According to Kappa’s survey 81.1% agree to retain the right to retirement after 37 years of service regardless of age. 63.5% agree that penalties for premature retirement must be strict, and 61.8 percent are satisfied with the fact that all civil servants will be insured with IKA from 2013. Finally, 48.4 percent said they are satisfied with the activity and presence of Minister of Labor Andreas Loverdos, in contrast to 44.5 percent who are not satisfied.
In another opinion poll can be seen that after signing the agreement for the salvation of the country with its Euro partners and the International Monetary Fund, the dynamics of public sentiment is against the politicians of both major parties with the request for someone to be found responsible for the situation of the country.
As Prime Minister George Papandreou and the leader of the opposition New Democracy Antonis Samaras have realized that conditions are created for shaking the two-party system in the form, which is known in Greece over the past 30 years. As it has become clear from the survey of Public Issue, which was published in Kathimerini newspaper, the image of the government is cracking with rapid pace, while New Democracy cannot gain political benefit from the problems of government and is swept away by the created general climate of discontent and inner-party differences.
It is no accident that the leaders of both major parties “spread the flag” of transparency. Mr. Papandreou’s request “for some people to pay” looks like the Council of Ministers’ meeting, which showed that ministers can be held accountable in the case of disloyalty to the state. This formula can be applied in case of the Vatopedi monastery properties scandal and with the involved in the Siemens bribery affair related to the purchase of C41 security system during the 2004 Olympic Games.
Antonis Samaras also made a decision to clean up his party and until June, when the congress of the party will take place, all members of New Democracy, who have “done harm” will be discharged. In all cases, both parties agree that the most important and biggest challenge is to find those accountable for bringing the economy to the impasse.