ATHENS, Nov. 7 (Xinhua)- Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou sent a message of stability on Sunday noon after casting ballot in local elections, which could pave the way to stage early general elections by year end in debt-ridden Greece. If the results of the municipal and regional elections which are held in two rounds on Nov. 7 and Nov. 14, will be negative for the ruling socialist PASOK party due to peoples dissatisfaction with austerity measures, Papandreou could opt for general elections. PASOK won by a large margin in last year's general election on Oct. 4, but ever since a severe debt crisis broke out in Greece and Papandreou's government imposed austerity measures to escape bankruptcy. A string a cutbacks on salaries and tax hikes introduced this year to secure the financial aid of European Union and International Monetary Fund to tackle the crisis, has met strong reactions by a part of Greek society though. 'Today is a day of important decisions. With 'Kallikratis' plan we change the function of our state to serve the citizen better. We also decide for the stability of the course of the country. We need it to continue the difficult reforms. We won battles and we will continue to win. I know we can. Greece can,' said the Greek premier on his exit from a polling station in a northern Athens suburb. Named after one of the architects of the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis hill, the Kallikratis plan aims to restructure local government in the country to save central government billions of euros. According to the plan the number of regions is reduced to 13 across Greece from the previous 67 prefectures and the number of municipalities from 1,014 to 325. Most voters who reach polling stations on Sunday see the local elections as an opportunity to express their feelings about the central government' s economic policy. Polls opened at 07:00 in the morning local hour (05:00 GMT) and close at 19:00 (17:00 GMT). No exit polls are expected this time, but pollsters and political parties will have an early estimation of the outcome after two or three hours. According to the latest opinion polls, the majority of the more than 9 million eligible voters want to send Papandreou a message of dissatisfaction, but at the same time do not want the staging of snap general elections that could create uncertainty in the country and make more difficult the prospects of exiting the crisis soon. 