Greece's
Syriza to win election but face setback, poll shows
Send a link to a friend
[August 28, 2015]
By George Georgiopoulos
ATHENS (Reuters) - Former Greek Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras' leftist Syriza will emerge as the biggest party
after next month's election but without the sizeable margin it was
hoping for, the first major opinion poll since he resigned last week
showed.
|
The poll also found that almost two thirds of voters felt Tsipras
should not have sought a fresh mandate and that his favored
coalition ally would not make it into parliament, suggesting his
gamble to call early elections to consolidate his power base could
backfire.
Syriza was supported by 23 percent of those polled, with the
conservative New Democracy party second on 19.5 percent, according
to the survey, carried out by pollsters ProRata and published in
Friday's Efimerida Ton Syntakton newspaper.
The previous ProRata poll in early July showed a wider gap in
Syriza's favor, putting the party on 26 percent compared with 15
percent for New Democracy.
Based on the survey, 64 percent of Greeks believe Tsipras's move to
call snap polls was wrong, while 68 percent agreed that Greece must
stay in the euro zone at any cost, even if that meant further
austerity.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Aug/28/images/ads/current/Applegate_exc_sda_daily_030415.png) "The answers to these two questions lead to the conclusion that
early elections may cost the (former) prime minister and Syriza,"
the newspaper said.
Early elections are expected on Sept. 20, a date the president is
likely to confirm later on Friday after a caretaker government is
sworn in.
Tsipras abruptly resigned last week days after clinching an 86
billion euro ($97.2 billion) bailout package from European and
International Monetary Fund lenders, hoping to crush a rebellion by
far-left lawmakers and tighten his grip on power.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Aug/28/images/ads/current/MKS_LDA_august_balloon_071615.png)
Popular Unity, the party formed last week by Syriza rebels who
oppose the bailout, was backed by 3.5 percent in Friday's poll -
just above the 3 percent threshold needed to enter parliament.
But the Independent Greeks, the ally in Tsipras' former coalition
government, scored just 2 percent, meaning Syriza would be forced to
seek another coalition partner.
Tsipras this week ruled out cooperating with the main pro-euro
opposition parties - New Democracy, the Socialist PASOK and the
centrist To Potami. The poll's result suggested that, in that event,
the country would face a second round of elections.
One third of those who supported Tsipras' party in the January 2015
elections that took him into office said they were unsure if they
will do so again, the poll said.
It also showed 25.5 percent of voters were still undecided, making
them the biggest bloc.
(Writing by Deepa Babington; editing by John Stonestreet)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Aug/28/images/ads/current/gives_you_more_bch_040314.png) |