Metron Analysis poll on Mega: Worry over inflation, economy; ruling ND still dominates; new SYRIZA leader debuts with low approval ratings

The latest opinion poll by Metron Analysis, presented on the prime-time newscast of Mega Channel on Thursday evening, gives ruling New Democracy (ND) party a 22.8-percentage point lead over main opposition SYRIZA, a widened lead despite registered voter displeasure with pesky inflation and the state of the economy.

Despite ND’s apparent dominance on the political scene, roughly 60 percent of respondents in this latest poll said they believed “things were headed in the wrong direction”, with 34 percent choosing “right direction”. The results last month, in September 2023, were 62 and 32 percent, respectively.

Worry over the economy was the number one concern of respondents in the poll, at 39 percent, followed by inflation, 24 percent.

In terms of the strictly political portion, an extrapolation of results gives ND 38 percent if an election were held this Sunday, down by 2.6 percentage points from the tally the center-right picked up in last June’s general election. Leftist SYRIZA is given 15.2 percent; 13.4 percent for social democrat PASOK and 10.2 percent for the Communist Party (KKE).

Compared with last month’s results, ruling ND party achieved a slight increase in voter support, as shown from respondents’ replies.

In relation to the most prominent recent political development in Greece, namely, the internal party election of a previously obscure Greek expatriate in the United States, Stefanos Kasselakis, as SYRIZA president, only 16 percent of respondents held a favorable opinion of his first month of leadership; 72 percent held a negative opinion.

Asked about the most suitable politician for the prime minister’s post, incumbent Kyriakos Mitsotakis was preferred by 40 percent of respondents, far ahead of Kasselakis (7 percent) and PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis (6 percent).