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The problems in the coalition government over the last month have inevitably affected its popularity. The sudden closure of the national broadcaster ERT, the failure of the sale of the state-owned gas company DEPA and the withdrawal of one of the coalition partners from the cabinet have had a negative impact on the image of the government.
 
The public opinion barometer of pollster Public Issue shows that the popularity of New Democracy has fallen by 1% in July compared to the data recorded a month ago and that if there had been elections in Greece this month, New Democracy would have received 28.5% followed by the radical left opposition SYRIZA party with 27.5%.

The third most popular party in the country, according to the same poll, is the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn with 11% of the votes. The coalition partner PASOK receives 8% which is an improvement compared to June when the voters’ confidence did not exceed 6.5%. Fotis Kouvelis and the party he heads, namely Democratic Left, have certainly lost from the latest developments.

After Kouvelis and his ministers have withdrawn from the coalition government because they disagree with the way in which Samaras closed ERT the party has lost much of the support which it enjoyed until recently. In June, the Democratic Left obtained the approval of 5% of the voters. Following its withdrawal from the government, however, that percentage has dropped to 3%, which is exactly the electoral threshold in the country.

Each of the two parliamentary parties, namely Independent Greeks and the Greek Communist Party (KKE) receive 6% whereas 8% of respondents say that they want to vote for another party without stating its name.

Antonis Samaras of New Democracy still prevails as the most suitable for Prime Minister over his rivals. 41% of respondents believe he is the right leader and capable of taking the country out of the crisis. Another 30% of respondents state that Alexis Tsipras is suitable for Prime Minister. 27% of citizens believe that neither of the two is suitable to head the government.

At the same time, the Economist Intelligence Unit states that the current government will not withstand the pressure of the economic crisis and will fall in the next year. The alliance between New Democracy and PASOK may have survived despite the government crisis, but there is no guarantee as regards how long it will withstand a parliamentary rebellion against the fiscal policy pursued.

It is expected that the key factors which will play a crucial role in Antonis Samaras’ dethronement will be the fragmented political scene, frequent social unrest and the practical difficulties in implementing the austerity measures. Analysts say that Greece may be preparing itself for early elections in the middle of next year when the European parliament elections will take place.

According to the publication, the permanent cuts in budget spending have a negative impact on the revenues which is deepening the recession. The anti-memorandum forces in parliament and mainly SYRIZA benefit from this which explains the insignificant difference in the popularity of the radical left party and New Democracy.

The analysts from the Economist Intelligence Unit expect that early elections will take place next year, in which SYRIZA will hold the lead. However, they think that New Democracy will govern again because SYRIZA will not be able to find coalition partners to form a cabinet as reported by the on-line financial edition moneyonline.gr.