In a first presidential election poll published on Sigmalive on Sunday, as things stand today, a run-off second round would see a battle between President Nicos Anastasiades and Diko leader Nicolas Papadopoulos who has the support of the ‘centre-space’ parties.
Even without yet announcing his candidacy, the poll carried out by LS Prime Market Research & Consulting Ltd, showed that Anastasiades would receive 70 per cent of the vote from ruling Disy, 15 per cent of the Diko vote, around 5 per cent of the Edek vote and even 1-2 per cent of Akel voters.
Papadopoulos has 65 per cent support within his own party, 50 per cent of the Edek vote, 20 per cent of the vote from Giorgos Lillikas’ Citizans Alliance – Lillikas is also running. Papadopoulos could also have 10 per cent of the Disy vote and 5 per cent from Akel.
Akel, which is running its own candidate though no names have been announced other than Mike Spanos who, according to the poll would secure 63 per cent of Akel voters, 5 per cent of Edek votes, 5 per cent of Diko voters and 1 per cent of Disy voters.
In the poll, Lillikas was supported by 60 per cent of his own party. Many of whom did not want him to be the candidate and some have left the party. Elswhere the polls suggested he could take as much as 15 per cent of the Edek vote and 10 per cent from Akel, the party of which he is a former member. Lillikas could also secure around 7 per cent of Diko voters.
The pollsters acknowledge that at this point in time, with the election some nine months away, that the scenarios are somewhat hypothetical and only a description of some trends at this moment in time. It was conducted between May 17 and 22 nationwide, polling 800 people over 18 by phone.
It found that Anastasiades popularity stood 43 per cent with 35 per cent having a negative view of the president. He has an 80 per cent popularity rating within Disy and appears set to end his first term in office with a higher rating than Demetris Christofias in 2013, whose popularity stood at around 20 per cent.
On the Cyprus issue, in February 2016, some 45 per cent of those polled at the time agreed with Anastasiades’ handling of the negotiations while 36 per cent disagreed. This month 45 per cent disagreed and 43 per cent agreed. The same applied when it came to the economy where 52 per cent now disagree with his positions compared with 45 per cent early last year. Most of his detractors predictably came from an Akel background and the ‘centre space’.
The poll also highlighted significant trends in voter abstention. Around 11 per cent as things stand said they would definitely not be voting compared with 12 per cent who said they had not decided yet whether to vote or not. Pollsters point out that abstention in presidential elections is usually much lower than in other elections.
In the 2013 presidential race, the abstention rate was 16.86 per cent (91,957 voters) in the first round and 18.42 per cent (100,484 voters) in the second.
