CHIEF presidential contenders Glafcos Clerides and George Iacovou are running neck and neck in the first round of the presidential elections, according to an opinion poll released yesterday.
The two take a lion’s share of the vote (38.85 per cent for Iacovou and 38.15 per cent for Clerides). Some 9 per cent either cast blank votes or were undecided, leaving the five other candidates to share out the remaining 14 per cent.
The poll was carried out by Avgoustis & Associates Marketing Research Bureau over the period January 10 to 17 and covered an islandwide sample of 750 people, of whom 5 per cent refused to participate. The rest made their preference known by casting a ballot.
The opinion poll was not commissioned by any political party or presidential hopeful, Andreas Avgoustis and Dr Harris Menelaou told reporters yesterday. And they stressed that the poll (which has a margin of error of 3 per cent) represented public opinion trends for the period in which it was carried out.
The results are as follows:
Asked who they would vote for in the first round those asked replied:
George Iacovou – 38.85% (42.81%)
Glafcos Clerides – 38.15% (42.04%)
Vassos Lyssarides – 5.61% (6.18%)
George Vassiliou – 3.36% (3.71%)
Alexis Galanos – 1.68% (1.86%)
Nicos Koutsou – 1.12% (1.24%)
Nicos Rolandis – 1.96% (2.16%)
Blank – 2.10%
Undecided – 7.17%
(Figures in brackets reflect candidates’ strength after the undecided and blank votes are distributed, assuming the same voting patterns are adopted).
Asked how they would vote if there the race went to a second round and assuming Clerides and Iacovou were the two candidates, respondents said:
Iacovou – 43.84%
Clerides – 42.12%
No-one – 2.29%
Undecided – 11.75%
According to the poll, 88 per cent of Akel’s 1996 voters back the party’s choice of Iacovou, 8 per cent are undecided and 4 per cent opt for Vassiliou. Disy supporters (in 1996) are loyal – only 6 per cent said they would not vote for Clerides. The greatest confusion is in Diko where only 53 per cent of the Diko voters of 1996 opted for Iacovou. The next biggest group (20 per cent) were undecided, 15 per cent opted for former Diko vice president Galanos, 5 per cent said Clerides and 4 per cent were blank.
Of Edek voters 77 per cent backed Lyssarides, 13 per cent were undecided, 4 per cent chose Iacovou, 2 per cent Clerides and 4 per cent another candidate.
The same poll shows Iacovou’s votes coming mainly from Akel (73 per cent) and Diko (23 per cent). New voters represent 3 per cent and others only 1 per cent. Clerides’ votes come from Disy (89 per cent); first-time voters represent 3 per cent and others 8 per cent. Lyssarides votes come from Edek (91 per cent), Diko (6 per cent) and others 3 per cent. Finally Vassiliou takes 54 per cent of his votes from his United Democrats, 42 per cent from Akel and 4 per cent from others.
