Opinion poll gives ND 8-percentage point lead over ruling SYRIZA; 9 out 10 respondents unhappy with govt

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) agains picked up the biggest percentage of respondents’ preferences in a recent opinion poll presented on Friday evening by a local broadcaster, with 25.5 percent choosing ND over a figure of 17.5 percent for ruling SYRIZA.

The poll results were presented on the primetime newscast of Athens broadcaster Skai, with the opinion poll conducted by the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki.

The extreme-right Golden Dawn (Chryssi Avgi) party continued to hold on to third place, whereas two current Parliament-represented parties, centrist and pro-European Potami and right-populist AN.EL, polling under 2 percent. Three percent of the valid votes in a general election are the threshold in Greece for entering Parliament. AN.EL is the junior coalition partner to leftist SYRIZA in the government.

Fourth place went to the Communist Party with 5.5 percent of respondents’ preferences, followed by a center-left grouping anchored by the once-mighty socialist PASOK party, at 4.5 percent.

More than half (54 percent) of people polled consider that center-right New Democracy will win the next election, when it is held.

On a more ominous note, 80.5 percent answered that they believe the situation in the country is worsening and that the leftist government will not extricate the country from a bailout regime or even stay in power for the full four-year term.

Nine out of 10 respondents are unhappy with the government’s performance, with the ratio of identified SYRIZA voters being seven out of 10. Some 44 percent of respondents want the government to nevertheless complete its term, whereas 41 percent said they preferred early elections.

 Finally, 74 percent of respondents forecast that households’ economic conditions will worsen in the next 12 months.