Greek opposition widens lead in polls after fires

Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:02am EDT

ATHENS Aug 30 (Reuters) - Greece's opposition Socialist party has widened its lead to about 6 percentage points over the ruling conservatives after criticism of the government's handling of forest fires near Athens, polls showed on Sunday.

Wildfires tore through Athens suburbs earlier this month, destroying thousands of hectares of forest and forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Opponents say the government, likely to face voters early next year, failed to learn from Greece's worst wildfires in 2007, which killed 65 people, and had made no progress in preventing and reacting effectively to such disasters.

A nationwide survey by Marc for the daily Ethnos newspaper showed the socialists (PASOK) with 33.7 percent of support compared to 27.5 percent for the ruling New Democracy party. A survey by the same agency in July gave the socialists a 5 percentage point lead.

In another survey by Alco for the Proto Thema Sunday newspaper, the socialists had a 6 percentage point lead over the conservatives.

Both polls were conducted among 1,000 people days after the fires which raged Aug. 21-24.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is clinging to a one-seat majority and the socialist opposition has made clear it will force a snap poll in March when parliament votes for a new president.

The conservatives, who are struggling with the economic crisis, social unrest and numerous scandals, lost to the socialists in June's European Parliament election.

The socialists won with 36.6 percent of the vote while the conservatives had 32.2 percent.

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas: Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)



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