Poll shows voters’ discontent
Almost exactly a year since New Democracy was reelected, six out of 10 voters believe that the government has failed in its mission, according to a poll that also shows faith in the potential of the political opposition to be muted, with one in six voters saying they would cast a blank ballot if general elections were held now. According to the opinion poll, carried out by Public Issue on behalf of Kathimerini on a sample of 1,044 people, 61 percent of voters believe ND’s reelection has not benefited the country. In March, this figure stood significantly lower, at 43 percent. The same poll found that 67 percent of voters believe the government has tried «very little or not at all» to tackle the country’s problems. Meanwhile, more than half – 57 percent – of respondents saw the government’s progress as «slow.» The same poll, carried out earlier this month before the resignation of scandal-mired Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis, also reveals that a significant proportion of ND voters have a critical outlook regarding their chosen party’s progress. One in four (42 percent) of ND voters said they believed the government’s progress was «slow.» As for the main concerns of voters, half (49 percent) said it was the economy, compared to 32 percent in June, while 43 percent highlighted unemployment and 25 percent mentioned the increasingly high cost of living. Overall the poll shows ND’s lead over PASOK to have dropped to 1.5 percent, from 3.5 percent in July. Despite ND’s stark drop in popularity and a series of scandals that have been plaguing the government and which culminated in Voulgarakis’s resignation last week, PASOK leader George Papandreou avoided any personal criticisms during his speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair over the weekend. But Papandreou took the opportunity to call for early elections, saying that «the downward spiral has to stop.» «Our aim is not only to relieve the economically weaker groups, but to restore the trust of the Greek people in politics and in politicians,» the PASOK leader told a press conference after his speech.
