Polls: Greek socialists overtake the Left ranking second

The Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) is currently in second position, overtaking for the first time in 11 years the main opposition leftist Syriza party, which is facing deep turmoil, new polls have shown.

Pasok was an influential party in Greek politics for decades, but its electoral performance dropped after the country requested a bailout from the International Monetary Fund in 2010.

Leftist Syriza, affiliated with the EU Left, filled the gap in opposition under the leadership of Alexis Tsipras, who managed to bring the party into power.

The socialists started gaining ground again after the electoral defeat of Syriza by the conservative New Democracy party (EPP) in the national elections last June.

Read more: ‘Tsipras miracle’ happened once: Greek left on the brink of collapse

Tsipras resigned and was replaced through internal elections by 35-year-old businessman Stefanos Kasselakis.

Also read: Big ‘left divorce’ reshuffles political cards in Athens

Since then, Syriza has been facing turmoil in what many describe as a “civil war”.

According to a new poll conducted by Marc, the ruling New Democracy party ranks first with 39%, followed by Pasok with 14.3%, while Syriza stands third with 13.8%.

Last week, another poll conducted by Opinion Poll confirmed a similar trend: New Democracy got 38.5%, Pasok ranked second with 16%, followed by Syriza at 14.7%.

The main opposition insists that despite its internal crisis, Pasok cannot capitalise it electorally and that its voters do not turn to the socialists but rather abstain.

“Even in our worst crisis, Pasok does not pick up […] therefore it cannot be a reliable alternative”, influential Syriza lawmaker Nikos Pappas told Euractiv last week, adding that Greek voters will ultimately switch to Syriza, who will “build the social and political alliances that will make us a majority again”.

Pasok leader Nikos Androulakis rejects this argument. Speaking to ANT1 TV channel, he said his party is rising but “it needs work, it doesn’t want celebrations”.

He also insisted that the conservatives’ dominance in Greek politics can be partly attributed to the lack of trust in the official main opposition Syriza party.

(Sarantis Michalopoulos | Euractiv.com)