Poll shows Greek opposition widens lead over ruling party

By Angeliki Koutantou

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's opposition Socialist party has stretched its poll lead to as much as 6 percentage points over the ruling Conservatives amid public discontent over the handling of the worst rioting in decades, surveys showed on Sunday.

Anti-government protests have entered a third week since the December 6 killing of a 15-year-old boy by police but Greek citizens were split on whether the government should call snap elections. The demonstrations have fed on anger at youth unemployment, pension reforms and privatisations, and an economic slowdown.

While the level of violence has fallen in the past few days, hundreds of students with fire bombs fought running battles with police in the centre of Athens late on Saturday and daily demonstrations clog the square outside parliament.

An opinion poll published by Kathimerini newspaper showed the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Party (PASOK) had 38.5 percent of voters support compared to 32.5 percent for the ruling New Democracy party.

The survey of 1,013 people by pollsters Public Issue, spanning the start of the riots, showed 86 percent of Greeks were critical of the government's handling of the violence and believed "things in Greece are moving in the wrong direction."

"The government's handling of youth protests resulted in a further worsening of the government and prime minister's image," Yiannis Mavris, Public Issue general director, said in an article in the newspaper.

But only half of the sample said the ruling party should call snap vote, after it won re-election last year.

The Greek government's term ends in September 2011 but many analysts say the ruling party might have to call elections as soon as next year. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has rejected PASOK calls to go to the polls.