Greeks go to the polls tomorrow in the aftermath of deadly forest fires to vote in a closely fought election seen as critical for reforms needed in the euro zone's second-poorest member.
The heirs to Greece's two top political families again vie for Greece's top post, pledging to create jobs, improve standards of living and shore up an ailing pension system.
Conservative Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, nephew of the late statesman Constantine, scored a landslide victory in 2004 against socialist PASOK party leader George Papandreou, son of the late charismatic prime minister Andreas.
But the gap between the two parties has been narrowing due to financial scandals and forest fires that killed 65 people last month, turning voters to smaller parties.
Opinion polls published before a September 1st blackout showed New Democracy leading PASOK by 1 to 2 percentage points with neither gathering enough votes to form a government.
This could force parties to seek coalitions and, if none succeed, a new election would be held.
Mr Papandreou has not ruled out cooperating with other parties but Mr Karamanlis has made clear Greece was headed for repeat elections if he did not win a strong mandate.
The far-right LA.O.S. party is expected to enter parliament for the first time and could end up a powerbroker.
Mr Karamanlis prides himself on creating 200,000 jobs since coming to power but unemployment remains above the EU average despite a healthy 4.4 per cent GDP growth rate this year.
About 20 per cent of Greeks live below the poverty line and per capita GDP is the lowest next to Portugal's in the euro zone. Brussels says more structural reforms are needed to make Greece competitive.
AP