Ruling New Democracy (ND) party remains firmly in first place in the latest results of a GPO opinion poll presented on Wednesday, although showing significant signs of decline after nationwide protests last Friday on the two-year anniversary of the deadly Tempi rail disaster.
Second-place PASOK party, now the main opposition in the country’s 300-deputy Parliament, also shows a downward trend. Conversely, the lesser anti-establishment Plefsi Eleftherias (Course of Freedom) and Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution) parties – the former on the far left of the political spectrum and the latter on the far right – appear as gaining support due to their sharp criticism in relation to the rail accident.
The results were presented on the prime-time newscast of Athens-based Star Channel.
One of the more interesting results is that a majority of respondents in the poll now favor a snap election, while a large majority lay blame on the current center-right government for the two-train collision on the evening of Feb. 28, 2023. Similarly, a large majority of respondents believe the Greek government is trying to “cover-up” responsibilities for the disaster, which claimed the lives of 57 people.
In absolute numbers, 23.1% of respondents favored ND, down from 26.7% in the last GPO poll in January. Socialist / social democrat PASOK is given 14.8%, down from 16.6%.
The Plefsi Eleftherias party nearly doubled its take from the last such poll, garnering 6.9% of respondents’ preference – up from 3.8% in the previous poll.
The party’s founder and president, former Parliament president Zoe Konstantopoulou under the first SYRIZA government in the first half of 2015, has been among the more disparaging detractors of the government vis-à-vis the Tempi case.
At the same time, the founder of the Elliniki Lysi party, Kyriakos Velopoulos, one of the most successful television sales pitchmen in the country, was among the first to prominently circulate claims that the freight train – which collided with a passenger train – carried a contraband or undeclared flammable cargo on the ill-fated evening of Feb. 28, 2023. The scenario of contraband cargo is part of parcel of the “cover-up” charges aimed at the government.
Velopoulos’ right-wing and Eurosceptic party was calculated at 9.2% in the latest GPO poll, up from 7.9% in January 2025.
Another three parties are shown above the 3% threshold (in a general election of valid ballots) for Parliament representation, two of which currently field deputies in the legislature: the Communist Party (KKE), which is favored by 7.6% of respondents and once high-riding SYRIZA, which appears to have returned to “single-digit” territory for good, at 6%.
A relatively new party, the right-wing, populist and nationalist Foni Logikis (Voice of Reason) is shown at 4.2%.
Asked which of the political leaders is “best suited” to be prime minister, the answer “no one” comes in first at 36.7%.
Incumbent Kyriakos Mitsotakis comes in second with 24.9%, with all of his rivals far behind in single digits and with the closest being PASOK president Nikos Androulakis, with 8.8%.
A slim majority of respondents (52.5%) favor early elections; 71.9% see a Tempi “cover-up” and 85% say the Mitsotakis government has responsibility for the unprecedented rail disaster.
Just as telling is the fact that 82.4% of respondents consider that opposition parties are trying to politically exploit the Tempi tragedy.
