Politics of Greece

Greece's economic fate, security, hang on election

By Alexis Papachelas

Sunday?s election will be decisive for Greece.

Independent Greeks leader Panos Kammenos is ?absolutely ready? to govern with SYRIZA if the leftist party wins Sunday?s elections, he said during a news conference on Wednesday.

New Democracy

Founded: 1974
Leader: Antonis Samaras

By Renee Maltezou & Lefteris Papadimas

Greece's Socialist PASOK party could support a government led by the radical leftist SYRIZA party as part of a wider pro-euro alliance to steer the country out of its bailout program, PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos told Reuters.

German bond yields saw their biggest daily rise in over a year on Wednesday ? a sign investors believe that any European Central Bank easing measures announced when the ECB meets today may fall short of their high expectations.

By Renee Maltezou, Lefteris Papadimas & Deepa Babington

After four years of economic sacrifices, Greece bet it could agree an early end to its international bailout. Instead a stand off with creditors in a Paris townhouse led to new political uncertainty and another eurozone storm.

Radical leftist SYRIZA led conservative New Democracy by 4.2 percent in a new poll conducted by pollster Rass for iefimeriga.gr news website, the Athens-Macedonian news agency reported on Wednesday.

The survey was conducted on January 19 and 20 with the participation of 1003 voters and also pointed to 7 parties reaching the 3 percent mark required for Parliamentary entry.

With just a few days to go before critical snap elections, the two main parties are battling for undecided voters and the center ground, with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras expected to emphasize the risks of a SYRIZA government in campaign speeches Wednesday.

To Potami leader Stavros Theodorakis is on Wednesday expected to say that he will not consider working with SYRIZA after the elections unless the leftists agree to conclude the pending troika review before launching any discussion with Greece?s lenders about debt relief.