LEFT-WING opposition party AKEL are set to win the May parliamentary elections hands-down, according to an opinion poll commissioned by state broadcaster CyBC.
The poll, carried out earlier this month, suggested AKEL would win 30.2 per cent of the vote come May 27, with governing DISY trailing with a disappointing 24.5 per cent. In the last parliamentary elections, in 1996, DISY secured 34.5 per cent of the vote and AKEL 33 per cent.
While a major blow to DISY, the survey also makes disappointing reading for centre-right DIKO and Socialists KISOS.
The poll gave DIKO 12.5 per cent and KISOS 4.9 per cent. The two parties won 16.4 and 8.1 per cent of the vote respectively in 1996.
The United Democrats are also down compared to 1996, securing only 2.6 per cent compared to 3.7 per cent in the last real elections.
Some 10 per cent of the 1,200 people questioned for the survey were still undecided, so the established parties should get slightly higher percentages come May. Voting is compulsory in Cyprus.
The poll makes for happy reading for the Green party and the New Horizons party.
The Green party, which won only one per cent of the vote in 1996, is predicted to get 1.9 per cent in May.
The poll suggests right-wing party New Horizons, who did not run in 1996, will get a respectable 2.3 per cent of the vote come May. This suggests both parties will make their debuts in parliament after the next elections. The threshold for representation in parliament is 1.8 per cent.
The survey also suggested that some 61 per cent of the electorate were either only slightly or not at all interested in the May elections.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
