New opinion polls show SYRIZA margin decreasing

According to a nationwide opinion poll conducted by Interview on behalf of northern Greece's Vergina TV on January 5 and 6, SYRIZA remained in the lead, with 27.1 pct of voters saying they intend to vote for the party, followed by ND with 25.1 pct, To Potami 6.3 pct, Golden Dawn (GD) 5.7 pct, Communist Party (KKE) 4.6 pct, PASOK 3.6 pct, newly-founded Movement of Democratic Socialists 2.1 pct, Independent Greeks (ANEL) 1.7 pct and Democratic Left (DIMAR) 0.2 pct. Six percent of those asked said they would vote for “another party”, 10 pct are undecided, while 7.6 pct said that they would cast a blank or invalid ballot.

According to the same poll, 53 pct of those asked said that they do not think that SYRIZA's economic programme is realistic, while its position on ending economic austerity and the memorandums was also characterized as unrealistic by 59 pct of those polled. 

In terms of party leaders, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras continues to have a clear lead (41 pct) over SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras (29 pct) as to who is most suitable for prime minister. Also, 41 pct of those who answered the questionnaire said that Samaras can negotiate better with the country's creditors. 

A previous opinion poll conducted by the same company gave SYRIZA a lead of 2.3 pct over ND (SYRIZA 27.4 pct and ND 25.1 pct).  

Meanwhile, an ALCO opinion poll to be published on Thursday in the weekly newspaper "To Pontiki" gives SYRIZA a 3.3 pct lead. 

According to the opinion poll conducted on January 4 to 6, SYRIZA leads with 33.8 pct, followed by ND 30.5 pct, To Potami 4.5 pct, GD 4.4 pct, KKE 4.1 pct, PASOK 3.9 pct, Movement of Democratic Socialists 2.7 pct, ANEL 2.4 pct, and "Other" 3.4 pct. The undecided are 10.3 pct.