At least three parties will be needed to form a government, polling institute Alco’s managing director Costas Panagopoulos on Wednesday said in an interview with ANA-MPA.

“A government can be formed by the two first parties, but if this has been ruled out due to political reasons, then three parties will probably be needed,” he stated.

On the role of political personalities, he said: “Political personalities always mattered in Greece and will continue to do so. It is the structure of our society that allows them to intervene. But it is not all about persons. In the upcoming elections, what also matters is the changes in party policies. This climate of diversity leads to lower percentages for the most recent governing parties as they have triggered negative criticism over the last seven months. This on its turn leads to high percentages of anti-systemic vote that can be expressed either by abstaining or voting for parties that the society considers anti-systemic such as the Union of Centrists. What is also important is the citizens’ view on the European Union, the eurozone, and the currency.”

Asked on the main feature of the upcoming elections, he said that “it is the society’s effort to re-define its relationship with politics and the parties in an environment that is very different from that of January as far as it regards emotions, everyday life, and the political parties themselves, most of which are different; SYRIZA, Independent Greeks, ND, PASOK are different parties. Either for reasons related to politics or for reasons related to persons, while there is also a new party, the Popular Unity. In this very different environment a large part of the electorate has not yet decided upon its options.”

Panagopoulos sees the percentage of the first party around 30 percent and a small difference between the first and the second parties. “Because the number of undecided is rather high, I think we’d rather wait. My estimate is, however, that we will be near the levels of June 2012, 29.5 pct – 26.0 pct,” he said.

He also expressed the hope that the government will have the possibility to improve some parts of the agreement through equivalent measures. “Certainly, each government will play a significant role in these changes. It is clear that the society is so tired, so pressed, so disappointed from the constant deterioration of living standards and that is why I consider that the new government’s first priority would be to improve these negative conditions.”