Fewer would vote ‘no’ today, Simerini poll shows

IF THERE was a second referendum on the Annan Plan most Greek Cypriots would still vote ‘no’, but significantly fewer than did on April 17, a poll in Simerini has suggested.

The opinion poll commissioned by Simerini, a staunch opponent of the plan, showed 61 per cent of Greek Cypriots interviewed would still reject the blueprint for peace drawn up by UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan, while 32 per cent would accept it. Seven per cent said they were undecided.

But the percentages are a marked improvement on the official results of the UN-sponsored referendum held on the island last April, when just 24 per cent of Greek Cypriots voted ‘yes’ to the plan, and an overwhelming 76 per cent voted ‘no’.

The poll, conducted by the Centre for Studies at Cyprus College on behalf of Simerini, also showed that six months after the first referendum, an overwhelming 89 per cent of interviewees did not regret their first vote – three per cent of ‘yes’ voters and just six per cent of ‘No’ voters would have voted differently with hindsight.

The opinion poll was conducted in the south between October 6-11 and the results based on the responses of 650 Greek Cypriots.

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.