Greeks feel insecure about their future
Eight in 10 Greeks feel unsure about the future, according to a new opinion poll that indicates PASOK still has a comfortable lead over New Democracy.
The Public Issue survey conducted for Sunday’s Kathimerini found that 83 percent of respondents did not feel sure about the future, while 68 percent said the country is heading in the wrong direction.
Six in 10 of the 1,009 people questioned said they expect their personal financial situation to worsen in the coming months.
Despite this concern, the government’s popularity remains largely unaffected. Support for PASOK stands at 38 percent, down just 0.5 percent from January, while the conservative opposition, New Democracy, remains at 30.5 percent.
Backing for the Communist Party (KKE) is also unchanged at 10.5 percent. The nationalist Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) saw its ratings go up from 5.5 to 6 percent, while the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) dropped from 6 percent to 4.5. The leftist party’s support appears to have migrated to the Ecologist Greens and the Democratic Left.
The opposition parties turned up the heat on the government over the weekend by focusing on the assessment of the Greek economy given by the country’s creditors.
New Democracy spokesman Yiannis Michelakis accused PASOK of «hypocrisy» and «crying crocodile tears» following the government’s criticism of comments by the EU-IMF team. Michelakis said Greece had been «humiliated» by the troika. He called for Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou to resign.
SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras accused the government of being fully aware that Greece’s emergency loan agreement would lead to «the destruction of labor rights and the auctioning off of public property.»
