ND snipes at PASOK as poll lead grows
A visit by opposition leader Costas Karamanlis on Saturday to a depressed industrial area of Athens that the ruling PASOK party had vowed to turn into an oasis of arboreal splendor eight years ago prompted the latest heated exchange between the two sides over the weekend. Yesterday, the pro-government To Vima newspaper published the latest opinion poll showing the conservative New Democracy party enjoying a lead of 7.3 percent over PASOK in how people would vote if elections were held today. Local and provincial elections are due in October and national elections must be held by the spring of 2004. Among those responding to the Kappa Research nationwide poll, 36.7 percent said they would vote for New Democracy, 29.4 said they would vote for PASOK, followed by 5.6 percent for Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos’s Free Citizens’ Movement, 5.1 percent for the Communist Party and 3.1 percent for the Left Coalition. Furthermore, 57.3 percent of those polled said they believed ND would win the next elections, as opposed to 30 percent for PASOK. Another 11.6 percent said they were undecided. Karamanlis also enjoyed a slim lead over Prime Minister Costas Simitis (35.2 percent to 34.3 percent) as to who is most suited for the post of prime minister. Greek opinion polls usually have a margin of error of 2 percent. President Costis Stephanopoulos remained the most popular personality, with an approval rating of 92.5 percent, followed by Patriarch Vartholomaios (75.1 percent), Archbishop Christodoulos (70.2 percent) and Athens 2004 President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki (60.3 percent). At Elaionas, Karamanlis declared that it was «an image of shame.» He added, «It proves clearly that this government cannot carry out its own promises, missing every opportunity to improve the quality of life of Athens.» Public Works Minister Vasso Papandreou replied that progress was being made but that it was a long and complicated business to carry out radical changes in the area as many residents, industries and municipalities had to agree. “It is clear that Mr Karamanlis is engaging in a game of images, sensationalism and disinformation, without caring about the essence and ways of solving problems,» she said. Government spokesman Christos Protopappas retorted that New Democracy, when in government, had tried to fulfill the wishes of industry and developers in the Elaionas area.
