Two new surveys that were published on Tuesday show that New Democracy has gained a marginal lead over SYRIZA, while PASOK/DIMAR is struggling for the third place in Sunday’s elections.
In the first survey, carried out by Pulse for Action24, New Democracy has a 0.5% lead over SYRIZA:
- SYRIZA – 27%
- New Democracy – 27.5%
- Golden Dawn – 6.5%
- PASOK/DIMAR – 6.5%
- The River – 5%
- KKE – 5%
- Popular Union – 3.5%
- Union of Centrists – 2.5%
- Independent Greeks – 2%
- Undecided/other party – 14.5%
Although this is the first time that a Pulse survey shows New Democracy in the lead, Alexis Tsipras has a higher approval rating than Evangelos Meimarakis (36% v 34%). Mr. Meimarakis appears more suitable in securing stability, growth, jobs and following the European course, while Mr. Tsipras appears more suitable in reducing social inequalities and negotiating the debt.
On the survey conducted by Data RC for the Peloponnesus newspaper, New Democracy has a 0.8% lead over SYRIZA:
- New Democracy – 27.1%
- SYRIZA – 26.3%
- PASOK/DIMAR – 5.7%
- Golden Dawn – 5.5%
- KKE – 5.2%
- The River – 4.7%
- Popular Union – 2.7%
- Independent Greeks 2.6%
- Blank/white vote – 2.6%
- Undecided – 9.8%
In the same survey 58.4% of respondent believed that SYRIZA would win the elections, while only 28.1% believed that New Democracy can come first in Sunday’s snap election. Evangelos Meimarakis is the more popular leader (48.2%), followed by Alexis Tsipras (39.3%) and Stavros Theodorakis (38.7%). Mr. Meimarakis also has a minor lead over Mr. Tsipras (40% v 39.6%), when asked who is the more suitable PM, although an 18.1% responded “none of the above”.
