D.I.K.O. CHIEF Tassos Papadopoulos leads President Glafcos Clerides by 1.4 per cent in the presidential race, according to the latest survey.
The survey, published in yesterday’s daily Altihia, showed floating voters would be the decisive force in the election while the main criteria that would swing the vote is the Cyprus problem and the prospects for its solution.
The survey showed that 36.5 per cent of the electorate would vote for Papadopoulos in the first round, with Clerides a close second at 34.9 per cent.
Attorney-general Alecos Markides chalked up 10.4 per cent, New Horizons leader Nicos Koutsou 1.4 per cent, while 16.9 per cent of the sample said they were undecided or would not answer.
According to the survey, if Clerides and Papadopoulos got through to the second round, the DIKO chief would receive 39.8 per cent of the vote and Clerides 38.4 per cent.
However, 21.8 per cent of the sample either said they would not vote for any of the two, or were undecided or would not answer, Alithia said.
In a different scenario where Papadopoulos and Markides got through to the second round, Papadopoulos achieved a clear lead – 42.3 per cent – with Markides trailing with 32 per cent.
In this case the percentage of floating voters rose to 33 per cent, the daily said.
The survey found Clerides to be the most suitable to negotiate a suitable solution of the Cyprus problem with Papadopoulos and Markides trailing with 25.9 and 11.4 per cent respectively.
The overwhelming majority – 74.7 per cent – of the sample suggested that the next few months would be critical with 24.3 per cent disagreeing.
Twenty-six per cent said that a satisfactory solution could be implemented in the next six months, 22 per cent said between six months and a year, 20.3 per cent thought it would take one to two years and 9.1 per cent said four years.
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.
