PASOK surpasses SYRIZA in popularity in Greece, support for far-right parties grows

Greece's largest opposition party SYRIZA, which is gripped by serious internal party turmoil, has been displaced from second place by the socialist PASOK.

The ruling New Democracy-ND retains its solid lead, according to a Greek opinion poll.

The poll, conducted by MRB for Open TV, showed the ND with 21.6% support (26.5% in May), followed by PASOK with 10.5% (11.5% before the European Parliament elections in May). SYRIZA has dropped to just 8.5% (13.1%) and is closely followed by the far-right nationalist party Greek Solution with a solid 8%. Two other far-right parties, Voice of Reason and Nikki, gained 3.4% from 2.3% in May and 3.2% from 2.4% respectively, while the populist Freedom Course rose to 5.3% from 2.8%.

As for the upcoming elections for PASOK's new leader, incumbent Nikos Androulakis and Athens mayor Charis Dukas appear ready for the contested race, receiving 25.5% and 21.9% support among voters respectively. I BGNES