SYRIZA lead widens before Greek vote as speculation mounts

By Nikos Chrysoloras & Paul Tugwell

SYRIZA widened its lead over Prime Minister Antonis Samaras?s New Democracy in three opinion surveys just days before the general election, prompting one pollster to say the race was all but decided.

SYRIZA, an acronym for Coalition of the Radical Left, led by between 4 percentage points and 6.5 percentage points in separate surveys conducted by GPO, Alco and the University of Macedonia based in Thessaloniki. That?s up from about 3 points last week.

?It?s going to be very, very difficult for New Democracy to overturn SYRIZA?s lead,? Nikos Marantzidis, a professor of political science at the University of Macedonia who presided over the poll broadcast on Skai TV, said by phone on Tuesday. ?Only a dramatic event of some sort could change things now.?

The University of Macedonia poll showed SYRIZA?s lead rising to 6.5 points from 4.5 points, the widest margin of the three latest surveys.

Current polls, if replicated on Jan. 25, would still leave SYRIZA needing to agree on a program for government with a coalition partner. The leader of one potential ally, To Potami, said in an interview on Jan. 8 that his party wouldn?t back any policy that put Greece?s place in the euro in doubt, and that Syriza?s plan to negotiate a writedown on Greek public debt isn?t feasible right now.

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In the GPO poll, broadcast on Mega Channel, SYRIZA had 30.4 percent support compared with 26.4 percent for New Democracy, extending its advantage by 0.8 percentage points from GPO?s previous survey released on Jan. 7. GPO questioned 1,200 people between Jan. 16 and Jan. 19 and didn?t provide a margin of error.

Greek stocks fell on Tuesday, with the benchmark Athens Stock Exchange losing 1.1...