ND leads PASOK in latest opinion poll
ND leads PASOK in latest opinion poll
The conservative opposition party, New Democracy, continues to lead the ruling PASOK party in opinion surveys but the gap has been narrowing, according to the latest nationwide poll.
The poll by Kapa Research, published in To Vima yesterday, also found that Prime Minister Costas Simitis still enjoys a slim lead over ND's Costas Karamanlis as to who is better suited for the job of prime minister.
The poll was conducted among 1,979 adults on September 13-19, after the terrorist attack on the United States.
Asked which party leader they believed most capable of being prime minister, 34.3 percent choose Simitis while 33.6 percent picked Karamanlis.
In May, the company's previous poll gave 31.7 percent to Simitis and 30.8 percent to Karamanlis.
Simitis scored more on the issues of ability, international standing, inspiring a sense of security, and ability to handle economic and international crises.
Karamanlis was seen as more modern, as having a vision for Greece, as more approachable and more able to express the interests of the Greeks.
If elections were held today, 36.1 percent would vote for New Democracy while 30.7 percent for PASOK, compared to 29.7 percent and 22.9 percent, respectively, in the May poll.
The recently-formed Movement of Free Citizens dropped to 6.3 percent from 9.1 percent in May, the Communist Party to 5.6 percent (from 5.8 percent), the Left Coalition 3.1 percent (from 2.7 percent). The undecided were at 12.4 percent.
Nearly half of the respondents (47.8 percent) said they expected New Democracy to win the next elections, with 33.5 percent seeing a PASOK victory.
PeterPTL Registered User
Posts: 1
(11/28/01 4:08 am) Reply
Re: ND leads PASOK in latest opinion poll
Well, since I don´t have much chance to follow Greek politics closely anymore, it comes as a surprise to me to see these results.
Of course, I should know better. At my age, I´m supposed to know better. When did Greeks know what they wanted?
PASOK slips 7.5 pct behind New Democracy in latest opinion poll
Midway through its four-year term, the government yesterday was contemplating its continuing slide in opinion polls and judging the results of a nationally televised news conference by Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Monday night, in which he presented the achievements of the past two years and his plans before the next elections in 2004.
Simitis's aides at the Maximos Mansion were reasonably pleased with the result of his televised appearance, mainly on the basis of a poll commissioned from the Kappa Research company involving 88 PASOK voters, 85 supporters of the conservative New Democracy opposition party and 27 supporters of other parties. These 200 voters gave Simitis an overall grade of 6.9 out of 10. Their points for specific answers to questions ranged from 7.95 points on whether he would leave the party leadership at the end of his term (he said he would not) to 5.71 regarding the woes of the Athens Stock Exchange.
Senior government officials said that Simitis's overall appearance had been positive, but they noted that the current political climate could only improve through specific government initiatives.
The latest polls indicate that the lead enjoyed by the conservatives has been widening over the last few months. In the most ominous development for the ruling party, 7.9 percent of those who voted for PASOK in the last elections appear ready to vote for New Democracy, while only 1.4 percent of ND voters are headed toward PASOK.
Furthermore, 31.7 percent of those responding to a poll by ALCO (presented by Alpha television yesterday) said that they considered ND leader Costas Karamanlis better suited for the post of prime minister, followed by Simitis with 29.9 percent. The poll, conducted among 1,962 people from March 21 to April 5, found that 36 percent were prepared to vote for New Democracy, 28.5 percent for PASOK, 5 percent for the Communist Party, 4.7 percent for Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos's Movement of Free Citizens. The Left Coalition hovered at the 3 percent threshold for entry into Parliament, followed by the Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI) with 2.1 percent.
The gap appears to be growing. The same company had found 34.6 percent ready to vote for ND in September and 28.2 percent for PASOK.
In January, a Metron Analysis poll found 37.2 percent ready to vote for ND and 30.9 percent for PASOK, while in December an MRB poll gave ND 34.8 percent to PASOK's 28.2 percent.
ND increases lead in polls to 8.8 pct
ND increases lead in polls to 8.8 pct
PASOK seen as more fit to rule
While the conservative New Democracy party is steadily increasing its popularity and about 55 percent of the electorate expects ND to win the next polls, the current, socialist Cabinet is generally seen as more competent than the main opposition party’s untried shadow ministers, a new poll indicated yesterday.
Ruling PASOK latched onto the comparison to argue that the poll printed in yesterday’s Ta Nea daily showed strong popular faith in its own officials.
“The Greek people only look to us,” government spokesman Christos Protopappas said. “The answers [in the poll] represent a catalytic picture in favor of the government’s cadres.”
He then caused outrage in ND by claiming that democracy was only fully established in Greece by PASOK in 1981, adding that under conservative governance (from 1974-81) there was a problem of democratic “quality.”
According to the survey of 1,155 people carried out in mainland Greece between May 13-24 by V-PRC pollsters on behalf of the pro-government daily (with the headline “New Democracy is Losing the Battle of Cadres”), were elections to be held now, ND would receive 36.2 percent of the vote, 8.8 percent ahead of PASOK’s 27.4 percent. The Communists would come third at 4.8 percent, with all other parties floundering under the 3 percent threshold for parliamentary representation. The Left Coalition (Synaspismos) came fourth at 2.8, and outgoing Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos’s Movement of Free Citizens (KEP) slid to its lowest so far, ending fifth at 2.7 percent.
Some 54.8 percent predicted an ND victory were elections to be held now, while 22.7 percent rooted for PASOK. An amazing 6.3 percent voiced the opinion that neither party would win.
All this confirmed ND’s steady jump in popularity since they lost the April 9, 2000 national elections. The V-PRC poll, however, restored PM Costas Simitis to the lead in opinions of who is best suited to rule the country. He got 36.1 percent of the vote, just ahead of ND leader Costas Karamanlis’s 35.3 percent. But on a list of 11 ministries, PASOK incumbents were voted as more competent than their ND opposition in all but two cases.
ND increases lead in polls to 8.8 pct 
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