One in four Cypriots undecided over Euro elections

A QUARTER of Cypriot voters are blasé about Euro Elections 2009, if the latest polls are to be believed.

The laissez-faire attitude was captured in three surveys released over the weekend, each showing that over 25 per cent of respondents are either undecided and/or just not interested in the June 6 vote.

Another thing the polls had in common was that DISY topped the charts of voter preferences and also in terms of which party is expected to ‘win’ the euro elections.

The findings also confirmed expectations that the six available seats in the European Parliament will be distributed among DISY, AKEL, DIKO and EDEK.

In Metron Analysis’ Gallup, commissioned by Alithia newspaper, the centre right-wing party garnered 26.8 per cent, followed by ruling AKEL at 24.7 per cent. Socialists EDEK received 6.3 per cent, the European Party 3.4 per cent, and the Greens 1.3 per cent.

Yet the second strongest ‘party’ was that of the undecided or wavering voters, standing at 25.4 per cent, although this category included people who said they might not vote at all or cast a blank ballot.

Asked which party they believed would come out on top, 37.1 per cent of respondents picked DISY, with the communist party trailing at 29.5 per cent.

Famagusta district is the stronghold of both the top two parties, providing a pool of 33 per cent of AKEL voters and 37.1 per cent of DISY supporters. Paphos is the bastion for DIKO and EDEK.

Meanwhile Gnora’s poll for Phileleftheros gave DISY 26.2 per cent, AKEL 25.3 per cent, DIKO 11.1 per cent and EDEK 5.9 per cent. Here the undecided stood even higher, at 26.9 per cent.

Similar results were recorded in Symmetron’s survey, commissioned by Kathimerini newspaper, where DISY again led with 28.7 per cent, followed closely by AKEL at 27.6 per cent; DIKO maintained third spot with 12.2 per cent of voter preferences, followed by EDEK at 6.2 per cent, the European Party at 3.4 per cent and the Greens at 1.2 per cent.

The numbers largely correlate with the outcome of the last euro elections, which saw DISY pull off an upset, landing top spot with 28.2 per cent, with AKEL close on its heels at 27.9 per cent.

Voter turnout in the 2004 ballot stood at 72.50 per cent, with analysts forecasting a similar situation this time round as well.

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.