An overwhelming percentage of Greeks believe that Greek-Americans born in Greece should have the right to vote in their former homeland, and that the United States has been a good partner, the first-ever poll in Greece about critical issues taken for The National Herald has shown.
Those Greek-Americans born in Greece have wanted voting rights for years but been virtually ignored by every government despite the weight they would carry in national elections, such as those looming on Sept. 20 in which they will be shut out again.
Their case was backed by 78.2 percent of Greeks in the survey, the first Pan-Hellenic poll of the Greek Public Opinion (GPO) in a representative sample of 1,000 voters.
Some 33.6% of Greeks stated that they have relatives and friends in the United States while 60.2 percent have a positive view of America’s role in dealing with the Greek crisis, especially after U.S. President Barack Obama early on had pressed the European Union to help find a solution.
With Greece’s economic crisis now past a fifth year and many people leaving the country in search of work and a better life, the survey also showed Australia was the top destination, followed by the United States, Canada and Germany.
Other key responses showed that Greeks believe that the Radical Left SYRIZA party of former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who resigned on Aug. 20 and called the elections in a bid to rid himself of dissidents furious he reneged on anti-austerity campaign promises, is in a dog fight with the party he unseated, the New Democracy Conservatives, in the elections.
Worse for Tsipras and SYRIZA was that his breaking of campaign promises has broken the back of his support among his critical constituencies who, however, had wanted him to do whatever it took to keep Greece in the Eurozone and then are ready to punish him for doing so.
SYRIZA is no longer seen as the party of hope and change, and the appeal of its young leader, the 41-year-old Tsipras, is fading.
Tsipras also has suffered from the breaking away of SYRIZA’s Left Platform, with former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis taking 25 of the party’s 149 former lawmakers with him to form the anti-austerity Popular Unity, and former advisers sniping at him.
Greeks also felt that Tsipras made a major blunder by bringing in the far-right Independent Greeks (ANEL) to serve in a coalition with SYRIZA two votes short of a majority in Parliament and needing the 13 votes that came with their new partner, which also then reneged on anti-austerity pledges.
Tsipras took another hit when he said if he wins on Sept. 20 and needs a partner to form antoher coalition he would deal only with ANEL, which is polling below the threshold needed to get back into Parliament, leaving him with no wiggle room.
In recent days, sensing that, Tsipras has indicated he would be willing to work with another arch-enemy, the PASOK Socialists whom he blamed, along with his castigation of New Democracy, for creating the country’s economic crisis.
All this is playing out as the next government will have to administer reforms and austerity to which Tsipras agreed with lenders in return for a third bailout of 86 billion euros ($95.91 billion).
Some 68.2 percent of respondents felt Tsipras’ government had poorly handled talks with the Quartet of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank-European Stability Mechanism (EU-IMF-ECB-ESM).
Tsipras’ calling for new elections – another broken promise – didn’t sit well with 69.8 percent of Greeks who said it was the wrong call and blamed him, another harbinger of trouble for him.
A big majority of 60.6 percent want Greece’s battling political parties to come together and find common ground to keep the country in the Eurozone but temper the tougher measures to which Tsipras signed onto after vowing he wouldn’t.
That was good news for New Democracy’s new chief, former parliamentary Speaker Evangelos Meimarakis, who has been conducting a cool-headed campaign and has an approval rating of 44.7 percent to lead all party leaders.
For all that bad news, Tsipras still has a strong hard-core nucleus of rabid supporters who still see him as a dynamic leader despite the licking he took from the creditors.
The survey showed, however that his credibility is hurt, and he must address his disappointed audience and tell them the truth, and also convince them that he knows how to cooperate, and to govern.
These are the reasons why at this point, the election’s outcome is so wide open.
A lot will depend on the scheduled Sept. 14 TV debate between Tsipras and Meimarakis who will try to set out their visions and where they stand on the third bailout – which New Democracy backed, leaving them essentially aligned with SYRIZA.
Among the smaller parties, Golden Dawn remains particularly strong in third place overall, while the Communist party KKE stays solid with its usual but unchanging base of far-leftists who believe even Popular Unity is close to a mainstream party.
The left appreciates the consinstency of KKE’s ideology, but has also trended more to PASOK, under new leader Fofi Gennimata, who has drawn converts from SYRIZA and former PASOK and former Premier George Papandreou’s KIDISO (Movement of Socialists and Democrats).
Former journalist Stavros Theodorakis remains personally popular as he heads To Potami (The River), although it has failed to go beyond the base it won in the last elections.
The Union of Centrists (Enosis Kentroon) is making a significant comeback, but ANEL remains shaky and it is uncertain whether it will get the necessary 3% to gain seats in Parliament.
Panagiotis’ Popular Unity is the big question mark. While its platform resonates with SYRIZA supporters, the party has not seen encouraging numbers since forming and attacking its former colleagues and leader.
The survey showed it’s unlikely any party will win an outright majority and will have to bring in a partner or partners to form a coalition.
The survey was conducted by the Greece-based poll company Greek Public Opinion (GPO) headed by its President, Takis Theodorikakos.
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