The political figures who are considered capable of assuming a European office as well as the criteria that will determine the citizens’ vote in the European elections approximately three months before the polls are set up, records a poll by the company “Good Affairs” presented by BIMA, while the the political scene is monopolized by the rapid developments in SYRIZA. The survey was conducted with an online questionnaire between February 1 and 3 and a sample of 2,989 questionnaires was collected.
The answer to the persons considered most suitable is evident that it echoes the overall popularity of these politicians both with the general audience and within the party from whose bowels they come. After all, the results confirm the political dominance of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is facing off against “nobody”, but also the high impact of Alexis Tsipras in the field of the Left, a fact that explains the catalytic role of his intervention shortly before the start of the 4th Congress of SYRIZA.
Overall, Kyriakos Mitsotakis receives 25.2% and “no one” 24.8%, with the second percentage coming equally from right-wing and left-wing parties that have either never governed or have no prospect of governing in the immediate future future. Of course, it is worth noting that the prime minister has repeatedly denied in interviews the possibility of taking a European post. Alexis Tsipras comes in third place with 12.2%.
The fact that in the following positions one meets former presidents of ND and PASoK who, despite being tested for a number of years even in the years of the economic crisis, having electoral defeats on their CV, continue to register higher percentages than the current presidents of SYRIZA and PaSoK. More specifically, Kostas Karamanlis receives 9.9%, Evangelos Venizelos 6.3%, George Papandreou 5.1%, Antonis Samaras 4.4%, Stefanos Kasselakis 2.4% and Nikos Androulakis only 2. 2% even though it comes from a term in the European Parliament.
Of greater interest is the origin of the preference of the above persons depending on the party. Understandably, Kyriakos Mitsotakis dominates within the ND at a percentage of 64%, with Kostas Karamanlis receiving 11% and Evangelos Venizelos following with 13%, which shows that today’s ND voters see the moderate and reformist Center positively. Antonis Samaras who recently vehemently attacked the government from the floor of the Parliament on the occasion of the civil marriage equality bill receives 4%, (as much as anyone) however he sees his appeal rising slightly within the voters of the parties to the right of ND (7% in a new party with patriotic principles, 5% in Hellenic Solution and 9% in NIKI).
“Regarding the high acceptance of Kostas Karamanlis nationwide in relation to, for example, Antonis Samaras, we would say that there is still the image of the prime minister who signed for the identity cards but at the same time his image has not derailed. To the right of the ND he is consistently first with a similar image to Mr. Samaras but with a clearly greater influence” comments Good Affairs election analyst, George Trapalis.
In SYRIZA, on the other hand, Alexis Tsipras is considered more suitable at a rate of 69% compared to 14% of Stefanos Kasselakis. The former prime minister is also a majority current within the New Left which came from SYRIZA with a percentage of 42%. In PaSoK the image is divided between George Papandreou, Evangelos Venizelos and Nikos Androulakis with 32%, 22% and 16% respectively.
“In the area of PaSoK, a party that has always sent its cream of the crop to Europe, it is of particular value to see the trisection of the party. Giorgos Papandreou comes first within PaSoK, in a field that is also favorable for him. Evangelos Venizelos comes 2nd in the party but with significant acceptance in the center as well as with a very high number of answers to the question concerning the self-identification of voters as Europeanists, which places him higher than the rest coming from PaSoK. The low flights of Nikos Androulakis and Stefanos Kasselakis are also an illustration of the lack of an alternative government proposal at this time” notes Mr. Trapalis.
“Since the topic of the day is the SYRIZA conference, the issue of the acceptance of Alexis Tsipras to the question we asked about his suitability for a European role is of value. The percentage of the former prime minister is particularly high as expected in SYRIZA but quite low in the rest of the left parties, with the exception of the New Left. The 12.2% received by Alexis Tsipras among the total number of voters places him in 3rd place and six times more than his successor, but on the other hand, it is far from even the ugly, for him, 17% in June 2023” he adds himself.
The selection criteria of the voters
The 64% acceptance of Kyriakos Mitsotakis within the ND and the centrist turn of the ruling party is also confirmed in the question that was raised about whether there is a greater need for leadership in Greece than in Europe. 74% of ND voters believe that Europe needs leadership, with this percentage remaining quite high among those who would vote for a new centrist party (49%) and among those who vote for PaSoK (51%). Yes, ND voters believe that Greece has a solid leadership, followed by PaSoK voters, while a large percentage (41%) of those who would vote for a new party with ecological characteristics believe the same.
“The particularly high 51% of PASoK voters who answer that Europe and not Greece has a greater need for leadership, shows the problem in the opposition position of PASOK, since while it comes with a chance to occupy the 2nd place, the voters they don’t feel that the country has a leadership problem” says Mr. Trapalis.
Finally, citizens seem to be expressed by different characteristics depending on the party they vote for. Those who prefer parties of the wider centrist space (ND, PaSoK, new centrist party, new ecological party) have between 13% and 20% higher criteria for their European identity than the rest of the parties where the same characteristic falls in single digits . Among the voters of the Right-wing parties, religion dominates, while among the voters of the Left-wing parties, their ideological position with percentages of more than 25%.
See the rest of the survey cards:
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