What Will the Greek Elections Bring ?

The new poll, carried out by Public Issue for Skai, showed ND to have inched forward to 31 percent, consolidating its growing popularity, while PASOK continues to languish in fifth place with 8 percent.

The poll, carried out on a sample of 1,002 people last week, showed the Communist Party (KKE) and the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) to be holding firm at 12.5 and 12 percent respectively. But the Democratic Left has surged in popularity, garnering 18 percent of the public vote (up 4.5 percent since last month).

All together, the leftist parties garner an impressive 42.5 percent, but as KKE has ruled out cooperating with other parties, the figure is misleading.

Support for the right-wing Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS), the third party in the tripartite coalition, slipped to 5 percent -- from 8 percent during its heyday in 2010 -- while the extreme-right Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) has surged to 3 percent, hitting the threshold for entering Parliament.(1)

I think the Democratic Left would quickly sell out to gain a seat at the table, Liberal Party style. The KKE is Stalinist, so forget it. SYRIZA offers the best possibilities.

One can imagine a coalition of the Democratic Left, Pasok and New Democracy attempting to force the demands of the troika down the throat of the Greek people. Street battles between the hard Left and Right loom.

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1'Poll points to a shift in voting intentions' - Ekathimirini