Rass poll: ND given 7.2%-point lead over rival SYRIZA ahead of Sunday elex

Results of one of the last opinion polls to be unveiled before Sunday’s general election in Greece shows an increasing gap between incumber New Democracy (ND) party and rival SYRIZA.

According to a poll conducted by the Rass firm for the regional channel Action 24 gives center-right a 7.2-percentage-point lead over leftist SYRIZA.

Specifically, ND garnered 35.8 percent of respondents’ preferences, compared to 28.6 percent for SYRIZA. Social democrat PASOK is assessed at 9.5 percent, followed by the Communist Party (KKE) with 6.7 percent. Another pair of lesser parties, both currently represented in Parliament, are also shown at above 3 percent, the all-important threshold that, if confirmed on Sunday at the ballot box (of valid votes), means their return to the national legislature.

In terms of political leaders’ popularity, incumbent prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis comes in first, with 43 percent of respondents providing a positive view. KKE general secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas is second, with 34.7 percent, leaving behind him former premier and SYRIZA president Alexis Tsipras, 28 percent.

Mitsotakis, similar to other such polls, is also deemed as most capable as prime minister, 49 percent, compared to Tsipras’ 25.1 percent. The answer “neither of the two” was supported by 24.9 percent of respondents