Greek voters urged to back euro The leader of Greece's socialist party, trailing a poor second in opinion polls before Sunday's national elections, has urged voters to back pro-euro parties to boost the country's chances of remaining in the single currency bloc. "Over 75 per cent of our people say they are for Europe and the euro - this must be expressed [at the election]," said Evangelos Venizelos, the former finance minister, in interviews published on Sunday. Opinion polls show support for membership of the eurozone consistently as high as 80 per cent. But there was no room for complacency, Mr Venizelos said: "That is, the view that we won't be thrown out of the euro because it would be against the EU's interests." Greece's longstanding commitment to the euro is being undermined by popular anger over prolonged austerity, pointing to a strong protest vote. The election is not expected to produce a clear-cut result, adding political instability to the woes including prolonged recession, record unemployment and a sharp rise in poverty. Mr Venizelos has resorted to populist tactics as he tries to rebuild support for the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), claiming he can persuade Greece's international lenders to spread the next round of austerity measures over three years rather than the two agreed under the second €174bn bailout. Opinion polls suggest Pasok will be unable to capture more than 20 per cent of the vote, compared to about 25 per cent for the centre-right New Democracy, its former coalition partner and the only other party committed to the bailout plan. That would leave a majority of Greek voters supporting a dozen fragmented groups, from the Communist party to the far-right Golden Dawn, that oppose further austerity - even if the consequences of such a position might be a forced exit from the euro and re-adoption of the drachma. "Most people take Greek participation in the eurozone for granted, not realising that is what is at stake in this election," said Menelaos Daskalakis, a conservative strategist. Even if they capture less than 50 per cent of the vote, New Democracy and Pasok could still together control an overall parliamentary majority, thanks to an extra 50 seats awarded to the front-running party under a revised electoral law being applied for the first time. Antonis Samaras, the New Democracy leader, would be the most likely candidate to become prime minister and form a fresh coalition with Pasok, although Mr Venizelos has said he would not join another cross-party cabinet. However, a conservative-led coalition government could prove short-lived. Mr Samaras might be tempted to call another election within a few months, with the aim of securing an outright majority. "The strain of co-operating again with the socialists without the calming presence of Lucas Papademos [the outgoing technocratic premier] could tip the coalition over the brink and force another electoral contest," said a Pasok analyst. Mr Samaras has unsettled Greece's creditors by proposing tax cuts aimed at promoting growth, together with increases in pensions and family allowances, despite an earlier commitment by Athens to €5.5bn of further budget cuts, due to be legislated by the new government in June. The conservative leader argues that curbing waste in the public sector and hiking taxes paid by state gaming operators would offset the impact on the budget deficit of higher social spending and of reductions in corporate and value-added tax.