Polls show Syriza, rivals neck-and-neck

Athens

Greece’s radical-left Syriza party is neck-and-neck with its conservative rivals two weeks ahead of snap elections, opinion polls showed yesterday, with an absolute majority for any party looking increasingly unlikely.

In a marked change from several weeks ago when charismatic Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras was by far Greece’s most popular politician, the polls published by the To Vima and Ethnos newspapers also indicate a rise in popularity for Vangelis Meimarakis, leader of the conservative New Democracy party.

Tsipras quit as prime minister on August 20, triggering the early elections, after suffering a major rebellion amongst his lawmakers over Greece’s huge new international bailout.

Both surveys showed Syriza maintaining a razor-thin lead ahead of the vote on September 20, with To Vima placing the leftists on 26.5 per cent against 25.9pc for New Democracy. Ethnos’ poll suggested 24.4pc of Greeks intend to vote for Syriza, and 24pc for the conservatives.

To Vima’s poll also showed Meimarakis pulling ahead in the personal rankings, with 44.8pc against 44pc for Tsipras. Ethnos, however, still had Tsipras ahead on 45.8pc against 44.3pc.

In an interview with the Real News weekly on Sunday, Meimarakis repeated his call for the two parties to form a coalition, an idea Tsipras has rejected.

Meimarakis, a 61-year-old career politician who took over the party reins in July, also said he wanted to “improve” the terms of Greece’s new 86bn-euro ($96bn) bailout.