LEFT-wing opposition party AKEL looks set to emerge from the May parliamentary elections as the largest party for the first time in 20 years, according to an opinion poll conducted by AMER and commissioned by Politis newspaper.
The poll, carried out between March 20 and April 12 and published in the paper yesterday, suggested AKEL would win 36.6 per cent of the vote come May 27, with governing DISY trailing with a disappointing 30.5 per cent.
In the last parliamentary elections, in 1996, DISY secured 34.5 per cent of the vote and AKEL 33 per cent.
The poll suggests DIKO will maintain its 10 parliamentary seats, earning16.4 per cent of the vote as it did in the last elections.
But the survey makes disappointing reading for Socialist party KISOS, suggesting it will only win 6.1 per cent of the vote compared to 8.1 per cent in 1996.
The United Democrats will also lose, according to the poll, which suggests the party will just scrape into Parliament, with a mere 1.8 per cent of the vote, just enough to secure one seat, compared to 3.7 per cent in the last elections.
The poll suggests that two parties will make their debut in Parliament after the next elections, raising the number of parliamentary parties from five to seven.
Right-wing New Horizons party, who did not run in 1996, will make a triumphant entry into Parliament, securing 4.7 per cent of the vote and at least three Parliamentary seats, according to the survey.
The Green Party, which won only one per cent of the vote in 1996, is expected to get 2.6 per cent this time.
The poll suggested that ADIK would not make it into Parliament, as it would only secure 1.1 per cent of the vote. Parties need 1.8 per cent of the vote to make it into parliament.
AMER found that 10.4 per cent of voters were still undecided.
The fact that the four small parties are expected to secure a 10 per cent of the vote in total indicates that a significant percentage of voters are dissatisfied with the political establishment.
AMER questioned 1,001 people from across the country.
All the opinion polls conducted in the last two months have suggested that AKEL would be the big winner in the election on May 27.
AKEL’s victory would signals a change of guard in politics, with the left-wingers seen likely to win the Presidential elections in two years if they form a coalition with either DIKO or KISOS, ending 10 years of DISY rule.
But DIKO is expected to be the party pulling the strings after the Parliamentary elections. The centre party will most probably form a coalition with one of the big parties, AKEL or DISY and possibly with KISOS in the Presidential elections.
Commenting on the poll’s results, AKEL leader Demetris Christofias said that: “People are showing their appreciation for our pro-people stance.”
DISY spokesman Tassos Mitsopoulos appeared optimistic that his party would secure a higher percentage of the vote than AMER’s survey suggested, saying voters had a tendency to take last-minute decisions.
“It is usual for a ruling party to suffer some losses,” he said.
Kyriacos Mavronicolas of KISOS said the Social Democrats had been receiving positive messages from the people, which contradicted the poll’s results.
“Anyhow, we will fight to prove those results wrong, convincing people that we are the ones they should support. It is a fight we will win,” Mavronicolas pledged.
Voting is compulsory in Cyprus. About 400,500 people are expected to vote to fill 56 Parliamentary seats in May.
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.
