Inflation is biggest worry, poll shows

Inflation is a major issue for almost nine out of 10 people who took part in a Pulse poll presented on Skai TV on Tuesday.

More specifically inflation and price increases were a “great concern” for 63% and “quite a concern” for 23%. In fact, almost half of the respondents said that food is the category of family expenses that concerns them the most. 

At the same time, the poll also found that 84% are concerned about developments in the Middle East. Of this percentage, 57% said they are “very worried” with the ongoing developments and 27% said they are “quite worried.”

The same survey also confirmed the political dominance of ruling New Democracy, which enjoys a 21.5% lead over main opposition SYRIZA in voter intentions, with projections also taking undecided voters into consideration. New Democracy got 38.5% versus 17% for SYRIZA, which remains in second place. However, both center-left PASOK-KINAL (13.5%) and communist KKE (9.5%) were strengthened. 

The results showed that SYRIZA’s vote share is decreasing further, while voter mobilization is particularly low, with losses primarily to PASOK and KKE, but also to New Democracy and radical-leftist MeRA25. 

Participants in the Pulse survey, however, also had a negative opinion of the internal initiatives of the new president of SYRIZA, Stefanos Kasselakis. A significant 58% said they felt “rather negative” and “definitely negative” about his initiatives, while 25% said they judge his intra-party actions “definitely positive” and “rather positive.”

The poll showed, moreover, that more than half of the respondents believe that the creation of a new party “to the left of SYRIZA” is possible, while 31% believe that PASOK will benefit from the developments in SYRIZA in the future. Another 23% believe that New Democracy will benefit, 15% that SYRIZA itself will benefit, and 9% that KKE will benefit.

The nationwide survey was conducted on a sample of 1,163 citizens with the right to vote on October 26-30.