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74 pct of Greeks want to stay in euro zone at any cost: survey

Xinhua, June 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Greek citizens were divided when faced with the dilemma of sealing a harsh debt deal with international creditors to avoid default or staging snap polls risking a Grexit, an opinion poll showed on Friday.

An overwhelming of 74 percent of the Greeks said they wanted to stay in the euro zone at any cost.

About 45 percent of respondents urged the leftist government to strike an agreement on the next package of fiscal adjustment and reform policies no matter how harsh they will be in exchange of vital international financing to avert default, according to the survey of polling firm Alco conducted for news portal "newsit.gr".

Another 37 percent of participants opted for general elections just six months after the latest polls to decide on the country's course in case the government fails to win an "honest compromise" by lenders.

The same opinion was shared by several cabinet ministers who have publicly called for snap polls after European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker presented an "unacceptable" draft deal proposal by lenders to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday night.

After four months of negotiations and as Greece was running out of money and time this June, 47 percent of Greeks said that they do no longer approve of the government's negotiating strategy.

In case the Greeks head to the ballots soon, according to the survey, the radical left SYRIZA party of Tsipras will still win the first place with 31.3 percent of votes (compared to the 36 percent it won in the January elections) and conservative New Democracy party will rank second with 20.4 percent (down from 28 percent in January's polls). Endit