The polls are being targeted by the opposition parties as well as Alexis Tsipras supporters.
Phrasing the saying “if reality doesn’t agree with us, the worse for it”the opposition parties led by PASOK, but also the supporters of Alexis Tsipras – both inside and outside politics – are targeting the polls and polling companies with exactly the same reasoning.
This is not the first time. The issue of polling companies has repeatedly gone to Parliament even in inquiries at the initiative of Alexis Tsipras, who believed that it was not the course of his and his party’s career and the illusions with which he filled the Greek people but the measurements that were supposedly against him without corresponding to reality that were to blame.
Of course, reality in both 2019 and 2023 refuted the various accusations that are currently attempting to come back to the forefront with PASOK participating, if not leading, in an effort to dispute the recorded data.
But why is this happening? First of all, it’s a method of bullying the polling companies that has in the past partially worked in terms of the percentages they recorded for SYRIZA. And why would anyone bully the polls? Because they are seen as creating a climate especially towards those in the lead.
But what if that’s the reality? That’s where the “so much the worse for reality” comes in – especially at a time when two or even three parties are expected to be battling it out for second place in the next national election, and probably with percentages not so satisfactory to their executives and voters.
The truth is that polls are snapshots of the moment and as such are, under normal circumstances, considered by the parties. The same is true, moreover, of businesses researching consumer trends.
Of course the fact that polls are becoming a pattern is becoming more than a snapshot of the moment.
Let’s take for example the fact that since 2016, about two months after the election to the presidency of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the New Democracy party moved ahead and has since stayed in first place with a lead that is now running at double score level compared to the second party.
At that same time, although Kyriakos Mitsotakis had not served as prime minister and was the leader of the opposition, he began to be recorded as the most suitable candidate for prime minister. So PASOK‘s argument that today Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ suitability is due to the fact that he is already prime minister and Nikos Androulakis has not been tested, is probably aimed at the party’s voters.
In any case, the polls can be off.For example, they were also off in 2023 with the difference between the first and second party. And this is about the high and low points recorded for each party. But the bottom line is that they rarely fall out of the win performance. And this one is sweeping in terms of New Democracy’s lead.
It is certain that the opposition parties are looking at the polls with half an eye. That is why there is an attempt to deconstruct them. Especially at this time when the war for second place is breaking out with more than one challenger.
