Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party continues to field a double-digit percentage point lead over ruling SYRIZA in a latest opinion poll, whose results were broadcast on Thursday evening.
Specifically, center-right ND garnered 31.5 percent of respondents' preferences, to 21.5 percent for radical leftist SYRIZA, figures that were extrapolated based from the number of valid responses collected.
The poll was conducted by the Pulse firm and commissioned by the Athens broadcaster Skai, which presented the opinion poll results.
A new center-left grouping, mostly comprised of socialist PASOK, was in third place, with 8.5 percent, again overtaking ultra-nationalist Chryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn), which pooled 8 percent. The Communist Party (KKE) was fifth with 6 percent. No other party was given above 3 percent, the threshold that a political party must exceed in order to enter Parliament.
Some 55 percent of respondents said they believe ND will win the next election; 23 percent picked the previously anti-bailout SYRIZA party.
Queried over a timely issue that emerged over the last two weeks, 62 percent of respondents said the arrest of two Greek servicemen, who strayed into Turkish territory, was a "very significant" issue; 16 percent said the matter was "sufficiently important".
Thirty percent of respondents judged that the Tsipras government's handling of the affair so far was "definitely negative"; 21 percent picked "probably negative", to 11 percent that opted for "definitely positive".
