Alco poll: ND still sports double-digit %point lead over SYRIZA

The latest – in a recent bevy of opinion polls in Greece ahead of a June 25 general election shows a standing double-digit percentage point lead for incumbent New Democracy (ND) party over rival SYRIZA.

The poll, conducted by the Alco firm and presented by the Athens-based Alpha channel, gives conservative ND 39.9 percent of respondents’ preference, compared to 18.2 percent for leftist SYRIZA.

Socialist PASOK retains its third-place standing with a 10.8 percent showing in the opinion poll, followed by the Communist Party (KKE) with 6.1 percent.

A new party founded by former Parliament president (in a first SYRIZA government) Zoe Konstantopoulou is given 4.4 percent, enough to enter Parliament, along with a right-wing and faith-based party, Niki, which is given 3.4 percent.

Breaking the 3-percent threshold for Parliament representation is the Elliniki Lysi (Hellenic Solution) party, another right-of-center and Euro-sceptic formation that fielded deputies in the recently dissolved Parliament.

Conversely, Yanis Varoufakis’ radical left Mera25 party is shown as flopping, at least in the polls, this time gauged at 1.7 percent and below the threshold for entering Parliament.

A majority of respondents (64 percent) answered that they’ll vote in the upcoming ballot to confirm the result of the May 21 election, where ND picked up 40.8 percent of the vote to SYRIZA’s 20.1 percent.

The electoral law in place and approved by a SYRIZA-majority legislature prior to 2019 prevent ND from forming a majority government as emanating from the May 21 result. A revised electoral law is in place for the June 25 that grants a bonus of deputies to the first-past-the-post party, ranging from 25 to 50.