Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party is given a 6.4-percentage point lead over ruling leftist SYRIZA party, with ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis deemed as the most suitable to handle negotiations with creditors and to boost growth in the crisis-battered country.
The opinion poll was conducted by the Alco firm and published in the newspaper “Parapolitika”.
Specifically, the poll gave center-right ND 22.2 percent of respondents’ preference, to 15.8 percent for SYRIZA. The previous opinion poll by the same firm in September 2016 had ND ahead by 5.8 percentage points.
Ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn (Chryssi Avgi), the Communist Party (KKE) and a socialist PASOK-led grouping trailed, with 6.6, 5 and 5 percent, respectively. A minor surprise is a party founded and fronted by former Parliament president Zoe Konstantopoulou, which was given 3 percent.
Three percent of the vote in a general election is necessary for a party to field deputies in Greece’s 300-MP parliament. No other party was shown with support of more than 3 percent, as least as far as respondents in the Alco poll are concerned.
Abstention was favored by 11.2 percent of respondents, with 14.7 percent of respondents saying they are undecided.
The Alco poll was the latest in a series of results showing ND with a comfortable lead in terms of public opinion, with only one small and left-leaning NGO, Bridging Europe, releasing figures showing SYRIZA ahead.
