Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-05-10

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] PASOK ahead in five opinion polls

[02] President inaugurates GSEBEE general meeting

[01] PASOK ahead in five opinion polls

The smallest difference between the two parties was recorded in the survey carried out by the opinion poll firm 'Focus' published in the newspaper "Real News". This showed PASOK gaining 31.7 percent of the vote against 29.6 percent for ND. The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) got 7.5 percent, the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) 6.4 percent, the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) 4.7 percent, the EcoGreens 4.2 percent and other parties 3.3 percent.

The gap between the leading parties widened by 3.7 percent when voters were asked to say how they would cast their vote in general elections, with ND getting 28.8 percent of the total, PASOK 32.2 percent, KKE 7.5 percent, SYRIZA 5.4 percent, LAOS 4.1 percent, the EcoGreens 3.9 percent and other parties 4 percent.

The survey carried out by PulseRC on behalf of the newspaper "Apogevmatini" showed PASOK ahead by 3 percent for the EuroParliament elections, with 31 percent saying they would cast their vote for the main opposition against 28 percent for ND. KKE received 6.6 percent, SYRIZA 5.6 percent, LAOS 4.4 percent, the EcoGreens 4.8 percent and other parties 2 percent.

An opinion poll by Marc for the newspaper "Ethnos" showed PASOK ahead by 3.2 percent for the EuroParliament elections, gaining 31.8 percent of the vote against 28.6 percent for ND. KKE received 8.1 percent, SYRIZA 6.2 percent, the EcoGreens 4.8 percent, LAOS 4.3 percent, and other parties 2 percent. For the national elections, the same survey showed PASOK getting 34.8 percent, ND 30.1 percent, KKE 8.2 percent, SYRIZA 6.0 percent, LAOS 4.5 percent, the EcoGreens 4.5 percent and other parties 1.4 percent.

The difference between the two main parties rose to 3.7 percent in an opinion poll conducted by ALCO for the newspaper "Proto Thema". PASOK was shown ahead with 30.2 percent, ND followed with 26.5 percent, while the KKE got 7.8 percent, SYRIZA 5.3 percent, LAOS 4 percent, the EcoGreens 3.5 percent and other parties 2.9 percent. In terms of the intended vote in national elections, the difference increased to 4.5 percent, with ND getting 27.2 percent, PASOK 31.7 percent, KKE 7.2 percent, SYRIZA 5.4 percent, LAOS 4.5 percent, EcoGreens 2.7 percent and the other parties 2.7 percent.

The largest difference for the EuroParliament elections was recorded by the Public Issue 'Barometer' published in the newspaper "Kathimerini", which showed PASOK ahead by 4.5 percentage points and getting a 28 percent share of the vote, against 23.5 percent for ND. KKE followed with 5.5 percent, then SYRIZA with 5.5 percent, LAOS with 5.5 percent, the EcoGreens with 4 percent and the other parties with 1 percent. Regarding the intended vote in general elections, the same polls showed a gap of 5.5 percent points between the two main parties, giving ND 35 percent and PASOK 40.5 percent.

[02] President inaugurates GSEBEE general meeting

Papoulias blamed the current crisis on inadequate control of the financial system and the dominance, beyond reason or experience, of an illogical faith in the magical powers of the market. He said that the crisis was also affecting Greece and further exacerbating existing structural weaknesses, with small and medium-sized businesses most acutely affected.

The meeting was next addressed by Parliament President Dimitris Sioufas, who again expressed support for SMEs and stressed their importance for the economy and for employment, noting that they accounted for seven out of every 10 new jobs created.

Employment and Social Protection Minister Fani Palli-Petralia referred to the stronger impact of the crisis and lack of liquidity on SMEs and underlined her ministry's genuine interest in helping them, especially in terms of protecting existing jobs. She said the ministry was adapting action and policies, speeding up action dealing with problems focused on vulnerable production groups like construction, tourism and retail trade.

Development Minister Kostis Hatzidakis talked about coordination on a European level to find a joint solution for overcoming the repercussions of the crisis on SMEs, stressing that the state and his ministry would stand by the 940,000 businesses in this category and do its best to deal with the problems.

Other speakers included Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) Parliamentary group leader Alekos Alavanos, Communist Party of Greece (KKE) MP George Mavrikos, main opposition PASOK secretary Yiannis Ragoussis and GSEBEE President Dimitris Asimakopoulos.

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