THE SECOND part of a Politis poll on the presidential elections published yesterday showed that a large percentage of AKEL voters are satisfied with President Tassos Papadopoulos’ positions on the Cyprus issue.
The first part of the poll published on Sunday puts Papadopoulos in the lead with 30.2 per cent of the vote, an increase of 2.2 per cent since a similar poll in July.
AKEL leader Demetris Christofias came in with 26.9 per cent, a marginal rise of 0.4 per cent, while opposition DISY candidate Ioannis Kasoulides fell 0.6 per cent o 26.2 per cent in the same period.
Despite the odds being against him, independent outsider Costas Themistocleous managed a 0.6 per cent increase and stood at 1.2 per cent.
Yesterday’s poll showed that 48 per cent of the electorate were happy with Papadopoulos’ stance on the Cyprus issue compared to only 39 per cent for Christofias. However, 44 per cent were unhappy with Papadopoulos and 48 per cent with Christofias.
Kasoulides scored low in terms of satisfaction with his position, with 33 per cent, and high on dissatisfaction at 52 per cent.
What was interesting was when the figures were broken down by political party, 18 per cent of AKEL supporters were happy with Kasoulides’ position on the Cyprus issue, and 44 per cent were satisfied with Papadopoulos.
Christofias scored 71 per cent of support within his own party, while Papadopoulos scored 79 per cent support within ruling DIKO.
DISY voters also appeared split. While 72 per cent supported the party’s candidate Kasoulides in terms of his position on the Cyprus problem, 26 per cent and 25 per cent of DISY voters were also happy with Papadopoulos’ and Christofias’ positions.
Papadopoulos was also seen as the best candidate to promote the positions of the Greek Cypriot side, with 36 per cent support compared to Christofias’ 35 per cent and Kasoulides’ 25 per cent.
The poll also showed a growing perception that the status of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state was increasing on the international stage. Over 63 per cent of those surveyed said they believed this to be true, compared to 26 per cent that denied it.
While all three main candidates fared well when it came to the Cyprus issue, they did badly on internal policy and on preventing corruption. In the case of each candidate, close to 50 per cent of those polled said they were not satisfied with their internal and economic policies. Kasoulides scored the lowest, with only 28 per cent satisfied, compared to 42 per cent for Papadopoulos and 36 per cent for Christofias.
The view that any of the three candidates could stamp out corruption was also in the low figures. Papadopoulos and Christofias scored only 30 per cent and Kasoulides 21 per cent.
Another area where all three candidates fell down was on offering prospects for young people. Only Christofias scored over 30 per cent, while Papadopoulos and Kasoulides scored 27 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.
The poll also covered attitudes to the impending euro adoption. It showed that 55 per cent of people still viewed the introduction of the single currency in a negative light, compared to only 14 per cent who viewed it positively.
