Talat trailing in latest polls

AN OPINION poll published in the north yesterday placed nationalist Dervis Eroglu in a 15-point lead over incumbent Mehmet Ali Talat.

Appearing in ultra-right daily Volkan, the poll of “800 registered voters” put Eroglu on 45.9 per cent over moderate Talat’s 30.5 per cent, the biggest disparity shown by any poll published so far. Redborder, the market research company that carried out the poll, said its findings were based on face-to-face interviews conducted between March 14 and 21.

Polls have so far been few and far between in the lead-up to the April 18 ‘presidential’ election in the north. However, a source close to the UBP yesterday told the Cyprus Mail of three other recently conducted polls, yet to be published by those who had commissioned them.

One of these, the source said, was carried out by KADEM, a market research and trends company that is generally regarded as the most reliable source of such information in the north. According to its poll, which the source said was conducted on March 21, just over 50 per cent of the electorate would vote for Eroglu, with 40 per cent of the vote going to Talat.

The Cyprus Mail tried but failed to contact KADEM head Muharrem Faiz for confirmation yesterday.

Another poll, according to our source, was carried out by sending mobile phone text messages sent to 47,000 subscribers.  Just over 10,000 responses were recorded, 41 per cent of which were recorded in favour of Eroglu, as opposed to 28 per cent for Talat. Twenty three per cent were said to be undecided.

Another poll put Eroglu on just over 58 per cent, with Talat trailing with 37 per cent.

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.