Alexis Tsipras faces shock election defeat

By Mehreen Khan

Greek voters are set to punish the government of prime minister Alexis Tsipras after polls show his hard-Left Syriza party is on course for a shock defeat in a general election later this month.

Mr Tsipras, who called a snap vote on August 20, has seen his party’s comfortable 15 point lead evaporate in just six weeks, putting the centre-right New Democracy in pole position to lead Greece's fifth government in just four years.

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The ascendant conservatives - who support the bail-out and will keep the country in the euro at all costs - edged ahead of Syriza for the first time since May 2014 in two polls this week.

A survey carried out by Metron analysis put ND in the lead with 24pc of the vote, compared to 23.4pc for the incumbent Leftists. A previous poll for Mega TV put them on course for 25.3pc of the vote ahead of Syriza's 25pc.

However, pre-election polls suggest no single party will win enough support to form a majority government after the September 20 ballot.

Analysts now expect the pro bail-out conservatives, who oversaw the last international rescue and dominated Greek politics before Syriza’s landmark election in January, to form a more stable coalition, dramatically reducing the risks of a future eurozone exit.

Smaller pro-euro forces such as Socialists PASOK and the centrist To Potami party are also more inclined to join a unity coalition headed by ND’s interim leader Evangelos Meimarakis, rather than the tainted Mr Tsipras.

The new government will face the daunting task of implementing a comprehensive overhaul of Greece's byzantine tax system, privatising €50bn of national assets, and overseeing the recapitalisation of a collapsing banking system.

“Greece’s willingness to constructively, rather than confrontationally, engage with creditors will ultimately determine whether eurozone membership can be sustained,” said George Saravelos at Deutsche Bank.

“After a new government is sworn in however, the ingredients are likely to be in place for gradual program implementation,” he said.

Greece’s political landscape has been transformed since elections were held just eight months ago. Syriza are now a shadow of the radical force that swept to power vowing to rip up the country’s austerity contract but stay in the single currency.

The party split into two after 25 of the most radical Left-wing MPs defected to form the breakaway Popular Unity front, vowing to reject Brussels' rescue terms and return Greece to the drachma.

Despite the draconian terms of its third international bail-out in five years, the imposition of capital controls, and an economy plunged back into recession, support for the eurozone membership has remained steady at 70pc.

"Greek people are generally dissatisfied by the Syriza-Independent Greeks government, disappointed with the outcome of negotiations, and aware of the austerity part of the bailout-package", said Christabel Aranda-Hassel at Credit Suisse.

Mr Tsipras's crown has slipped after he managed to secure a resounding 'No' victory in a referendum to reject the terms of Greece's new rescue deal in July.

Polling shows that his personal popularity has collapsed, with voters favouring opposition leader and political veteran Mr Meimarakis to see the country through at least another three years of grueling spending cuts and tax hikes./Telegraph