[ad_1]
The political side in MRB’s “Trends” has no surprises. New Democracy is ahead of SYRIZA by 15 points. The difference is narrowing, but it is still large enough to suggest even a tendency to change the correlations. The government is deteriorating, but not to the extent one would expect under the circumstances.
Similarly, Mitsotakis is superior to Tsipras on the relevant indicators. And here it is not certain whether citizens judge based on Mitsotakis’ managerial competence or the absence of an alternative solution. Both can apply. In any case, the research findings confirm the logical conclusion for an electoral contest as soon as possible, as soon as epidemiological conditions allow. Something shocking must happen to prevent the ballot boxes from being installed in 2021.
Politically, if there is anything of particular interest (and one that should concern SYRIZA the most), it is that the ministers with the most positive views are responsible for the critical areas on which opposition criticism is focused. Kikilias is the first, followed by Dendias, Theodorikakos and Chrysochoidis. Here, of course, there is a reservation about the reliability of the finding: perhaps the citizens will not evaluate a project and will simply elect the most prominent ministers. All of them, however, political leaders and ministers collect more negative than positive opinions. There is only one exception. Nikos Hardals. It is evaluated positively by 45.5% of the sample, although in June this percentage was 57.4%. Obviously, the daily television presence and the style also play a role here, but at the same time a profile of the immobile executive who plows Greece and takes action, something like a “father” has been built. Hardals is set with Tsiodras. Positive opinions about the doctor are still more than negative. Of all the people in the survey, he is the most popular, at 56.2%. In June, the positive opinions were 71.1%. And this is an indication of the broader trend that the research shows. People are tired.
Public opinion evaluates the health crisis and unemployment, by far the biggest problems in the country. Then there are finance and immigration. Crime has fallen at a much lower interest rate. Environmental problems do not really exist for the Greek public opinion. And if you ask the average Greek to tell you in two words how he feels about the present and future of the country, 54% start with “fear.” It is followed by “hope” with 37.9% and next to it, with 37.3%, “anger”. The “pride” is felt in 10.3% and the “confidence” in 9.6%.
Yes, all surveys traditionally reflect the pessimistic mood of people who always, in the corresponding questions, prefer to see the glass half empty. But here we see the collective mood dominated by a mixture of fear, shame and anger. Optimists say less than 10% of the sample. 63.8% believe that things will not go well. And yes, people are afraid of their health, their job, their income. They also fear that something will happen to Turkey.
How is all this metabolized into political and social behavior? It is not easy to predict since we do not know how long they will last. There are many unanswered questions about the end of the pandemic and the state of the economy. However, at first reading, a society that cares, fears, feels anger and shame is an ideal incubator for populism. Of course we’ve had antibodies since the last decade, but really, does anyone know how long they stay active?
[ad_2]
