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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is far from his goal to achieve an election result that will enable him to form an independent government as shown by the results of a secret poll conducted at the expense of a Greek political party, which the German newspaper Bild revealed today.

According to it, the rate of approval for SYRIZA is 28% as of today, far below the 36% with which the radical left won power on 25 January.

At the same time, the support for New Democracy is growing and is about to reach that of SYRIZA, with 25% of the positive opinion of respondents.

The newly formed Popular Unity party of former Minister of Productive Reconstruction and former leader of the Left Platform in SYRIZA Panagiotis Lafazanis ranks third with 8%.

According to the poll, SYRIZA’s coalition partner, Independent Greeks, and PASOK would hardly cross the 3% threshold to enter the next parliament.

Today Panagiotis Lafazanis received from President Prokopis Pavlopoulos the mandate to form a government after the failure of New Democracy leader Evangelos Meimarakis to do so. Expectations are that Lafazanis will hold the mandate during the three days regulated by the Constitution in order to meet not only with the leaders of other parties but also with professional and civic organizations in front of television cameras. The meetings with the representatives of non-party organizations are not related to the purpose of the procedure but for Lafazanis and his party, they are a window to the voters and airtime. Today’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras did the same after the first round of elections in 2012.

According to commentators, these conditions do not exclude the possibility of marginal party formations entering the next Greek parliament, such as the Union of Centrists led by Vassilis Leventis. He began his political career in PASOK immediately after the fall of the military dictatorship and participated in elections in 1989 with the ballot of New Democracy, he is known for his tirades on television and for his wishes to the leaders of the recently major parties PASOK and New Democracy "to get cancer and die."

However, the collapse of SYRIZA continues to hold the floor of the political debate. Parliament speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou is now in an open conflict with the entourage of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, which in turn accuses her of "applying dictatorial methods". Although she has not announced whether she will participate in Lafazanis’ party, she has stubbornly used the parliament to propagate her positions.

While analysts are still trying to guess whether Konstantopoulou will eventually become a member of Popular Unity or if she will only cooperate with them, former Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis has categorically rejected this option.

Photo: REUTERS / YVES HERMAN

In yet another interview with the German Die Welt these days, he states: "I like them and I think they like me. However, we are very far apart from a political standpoint in my opinion. It would not be possible to achieve constructive cooperation."

Varoufakis says the return to the drachma is a matter of ideology for Panagiotis Lafazanis and the 24 former MPs of SYRIZA who have followed him. According to the former Minister of Finance, however, "it is better for Greece to remain in the euro zone but not at any cost," adding, "I'm not sure that we should return to the drachma at any cost."

Asked whether he would participate in a cabinet led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Yanis Varoufakis replied, "Never say never".  He further specifies that he is in good relations with both the Prime Minister and many other SYRIZA representatives.

His possible involvement in such a cabinet could take place only if the economic policy to be applied were sustainable.

The results of the first official polls will be clear in the coming days.