More exactly, in the most recent polls (all ten of them that is) 6 polls claim that the New Democracy party has a 2.5 percent lead over SYRIZA while 4 polls claim the exact opposite. Apart from the obvious, which is the reliability and credibility of these polls, (that clearly show that there is an underground war to win over impressions in a highly fluid political scene), all the polls agree on one thing and that is the growing momentum of the Golden Dawn party which has literally cemented itself in third place ranging between 13-15%.
Some polls also asked respondents if they agreed or disagreed with the closure of the state broadcasting network (ERT). A poll from Metron Analysis for the Ependitis newspaper said that 68% disagrees with the closure of ERT, while a separate poll from Kapa Research for the weekend edition of To Vima said that only 64.4% percent disagreed.
Regarding the future of ERT, 49% of respondents said that ERT should reopen and remain unchanged, while 43% support the government's idea to create a whole new entity. The latter results are certainly not consistent with the above mentioned results where (supposedly) 68% disagreed with the closure of ERT.
And this is why we here at HellasFrappe question the polls since a logical person cannot disagree with the closure of ERT, while at the same time support the government on its plans to create a whole new entity. Right?
Exactly!
This is why we decided to publish this article today so that we can point out to our readers that they should always question the results of these public opinion polls, especially the two mentioned above, and not themselves to fall victim to propaganda because the truth is always hidden in the details.
So next time you see an article posted about a public opinion poll, first check which newspaper or television station is publishing it. For instance, when a leftist newspaper publishes a public opinion poll it tends to be fairer to parties on the left, and therefore you will see their rates a little higher, and the same occurs with a publication that supports the conservatives.Same holds true for issues such as ERT, because right now SYRIZA is supporting all the former workers of ERT (hoping to gain some voter momentum) and therefore you will see that their rates are higher! The same holds true for all the other parties who are basicallytrailing behind the larger two parties.
In other words, don't trust Greek public opinion polls.
And most importantly, do not trust the obvious propaganda about how Greek citizens disagree with the closure of ERT.
This is totally absurd.
The truth is that the majority of Greek citizens, especially those in the private sector, and especially the 1.5 million people who have lost their jobs over the past three years from supporting a very expensive and over bloated public sector, totally and without a doubt supports the government of Antonis Samaras on the issue of ERT.
We believe the following article in the Telegraph explains it best:
"Many Greeks can see that their bloated and corrupt public sector is largely at fault for the financial Armageddon they face. They won’t be “going down to Syntagma” to protest. They are private sector workers who put in very long hours and can only dream of the kind of benefits enjoyed in the public sector. They have to deal with a state bureaucracy that can reduce the strongest to tears of frustration.
Who can really blame the beneficiaries for wanting to keep the status quo? Especially if you work as a cleaner in an out of the way electricity power station and earn more than a hard working businessman in Athens.
This was a bold decision by the Samaras government, but very necessary. It also proves what HellasFrappe has said time and time again, that it is very difficult to fire public sector workers in Greece. This is why we have to stand behind Antonis Samaras on this decision. The main reason of course is because we do not respect incompetency. We respect merit, we respect hard work and we most certainly respect transparency, all of which were lacking in ERT's case.
As a nation we cannot continue to support a company that is inefficient, and that is up to the neck in scandals. We cannot support a status quo that brought Greece to its knees and we most certainly cannot respect the people who do not embrace changes that can only benefit this country.
Why is it so simple to fire someone in the private sector, but we cannot touch anyone who is incompetent in the public sector? And why aren't our voices ever heard?
When Samaras noted that ERT was wasteful and profligate we applauded him.
“Greece had become a true Jurassic Park, a unique country in the world that saw the survival of dinosaurs with antiquated ideological obsessions that have become extinct everywhere else.”
View video below (at 7 minutes into the video)
The man is spot on and we totally agree with him.
And just in case HellasFrappe gets criticized for agreeing to this decision, in an attempt to support the government, readers of our blog know very well that when the government screws up or supports a decision which we feel will not be beneficial to Greek citizens, we openly criticize them strongly. So this has nothing to do with supporting a political entity and is only about supporting common sense!
Even the BBC said in one report that no one at ERT was ever hired on merit or in a transparent way. There was no other way to clean up the mess at ERT. The truth is that the shutdown of ERT might of prompted some angry protests, but these are mostly from workers. The citizens who sped to the scene are basically members of various political parties (especially from the Left) and are exploiting the issue of ERT to win over voters. They even took the whole issue to a whole new level and spoke about a “blow to democracy,” and this really made us burst into laughter here at HellasFrappe because there is no such threat in this country. And just to back up our argument on this last statement it should be noted that if the conservative government was striking at democracy, then why are the former ERT workers broadcasting from ERT studios with ERT logos via the Internet? Wouldn't it of been simple, with a flick of the wrist to shut them down? Take a look at countries such as S.Arabia, and Qatar for instance. When someone says something against the establishment they are arrested! So obviously there is no strike to democracy, this is all just leftist rhetoric.
In all actuality anyone who has a little bit of common sense knows that ERT was poorly-run company full of overpaid unqualified workers, it was also almost always on strike and it was not a common secret in Greece that most of its workers never even showed up for work. Today it is these very people who are rising up against the government and talking about "democracy".
Pashos Mandravelis, a prominent columnist for the Kathimerini newspaper told the BBC that the government made the right decision by closing down ERT. He noted that there was no other option because every time a restructuring of ERT was attempted, the unions that support the status quo at ERT rebelled and poisoned society with their propaganda. In fact the unions even demanded (and still do) that there be not one single lay-off!
That is why we advise all our readers to read between the lines when it comes to ERT. The government did not close down ERT permanently. The state broadcaster will relaunch in several weeks with an innovative and fresh line of programming, but without the baggage and CORRUPTION of the ERT of the past, meaning without all the public sector workers who dragged it down in the first place!
And just to back our argument, it was announced that Athens Prosecutor Eleni Raikou ordered a preliminary investigation into ERT’s contracts and appointment of producers. The case is also going to be handled by prosecutors Popi Papandreou and Antonis Eleftherianos and it aims to investigate ERT’s records for the past 10 years. And we ask, if everything was fine and dandy at ERT then why would the Greek justice system order such an investigation?
Everyone who is anyone in Greece knows very well that ERT was notorious for political favors (meaning under the table hirings), most of which were to highly-paid no-show jobs. It is these very people who are now spreading lies and propaganda about the lack of democracy in Greece and how society as a whole is against the closure of ERT. It is pure hogwash!
Why are they doing this?
Simple: They really believe that Greek citizens are stupid.
Friends, the BBC has only 500 workers worldwide, while CNN has 4,000, there was no reason for ERT to employ almost 3,000 people! We are not Dubai. This is Greece!
It is simple common sense!
Signed
HellasFrappe
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