ATHENS

Less than a week before Greece’s general elections, polls are pointing to a clear win for the opposition New Democracy party.

An MRB poll published by Ta Nea daily said conservative New Democracy is set to win the July 7 elections with an almost absolute majority, with some 35.4%-40.4% of the vote, beating the ruling Syriza with 31.5%, and no other party projected to get more than 10%.

A separate poll done for private channel Ant1 said New Democracy has a 10.5% lead over Syriza, with 35.1% of the vote, compared to Syriza’s 24.4%.

Polling firm MARC projected that New Democracy would win 156 seats in Parliament, followed by Syriza with 75, KINAL with 22, the KKE with 16, DiEM25 with 11, the far-right Golden Dawn with 10, and Greek Solution with 10.

Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for the vote four months early after suffering a devastating defeat in May at the hands of New Democracy in European and municipal elections.

His left-wing party stormed to power in 2015 after Greece buckled under painful economic reforms and austerity measures, forcing it to sign for more than €260 billion in rescue funds from the eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund.