According to opinion polls published until midnight Friday, when the ban of publication began, ND was leading with more than 25%, followed closely by SYRIZA, which has a strong crowd in Attica area (according to the latest poll by Kapa Research, SYRIZA leads in Attica with 26% vs. ND’s 22.9%) and in young voters (30.1% vs. 17.9%).

PASOK appears ‘blocked’ at the level achieved in previous elections (13.18%), since it seems unable to approach dissatisfied voters. A significant reduction of electoral strength is observed in the cases of Independent Greeks, KKE and Golden Dawn, whereas Democratic Left seems to record a small decline, or increase, depending on the poll. From the parties that on May 6 failed to reach the Parliament threshold, Re-Create Greece/Drasi seems the only party that could manage to enter the House.

Meanwhile, the debate between Antonis Samaras and Alexis Tsipras -which could play a key role in shaping the election outcome- has been canceled, allegedly due to a disagreement as regards the participating journalists.

SYRIZA said Alexis Tsipras wants a free televised debate that would cover all subjects, protothema.gr reports. They say that Antonis Samaras’ associates are seeking to lead the processes to a dead end in order to cancel the debate. In addition, they explain that their wish is for the debate to escape the narrow limits to which it were held in previous years and have a dialogue in which every political leader will be able to reply directly to his interlocutor or even interrupt him.

According to Kathimerini, ND claimed it had agreed with SYRIZA almost all the details for a Samaras vs Tsipras debate but that the leftists scuppered the deal by issuing two statements outlining their positions on the discussions. SYRIZA said it wanted two debates: one between Samaras and Tsipras based on the format of the French presidential debate and another between the leaders of all the parties, apart from Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn).

ND states that although the name of journalist Nikos Hatzinikolaou had been agreed on for carrying out the debate, suddenly SYRIZA tabled another journalist as well (Elli Stai). Earlier, SYRIZA had proposed conducting two debates, one between Samaras and Tsipras and another with the participation of all leaders except Golden Dawn’s N. Michaloliakos.

SYRIZA said: “after days of silence, ND finally decided to announce its pre-assumed decision not to conduct debates, fearing the visibility and contrast of its positions before the Greek people. This is a cowardly political stance…” There had been no agreement between the two parties since ND repeatedly looked for excuses and hid by postponing contacts between representatives of the parties, while it falsely leaked that an agreement had been decided upon.

In ALCO’s poll published in Proto Thema, ND gets 25.6%, SYRIZA 22.9%, PASOK 14%, Independent Greeks 6.4%, KKE 5.6%, Golden Dawn 4.6% and DIMAR 4.6%.

In a poll by Kapa Research published in Sunday’s To Vima newspaper, ND stands at 25.8% SYRIZA 20.1%, PASOK 13%, KKE 6.3%, Independent Greeks 5.4%, DIMAR 5.3% and Golden Dawn 5.2%.

In MARC’s poll published in Sunday’s ‘Ethnos’, ND gets 25.2%, SYRIZA 23.2%, PASOK 12.6%, Independent Greeks 6.6%, DIMAR 5.3%, KKE 4.5% and Golden Dawn 4.4%.

In MRB’s poll for Real News newspaper, ND leads with 23.3%, SYRIZA gets 22.2%, followed by PASOK 13.8%, Independent Greeks 7%, DIMAR 5.7%, KKE 5% and Golden Dawn 4%.

Finally, in a poll by VPRC for KONTRA TV channel, SYRIZA is leading with 28.5%, followed by ND 26%, PASOK 12.%, Independent Greeks 7%, DIMAR 7%, Golden Dawn 5.5%, Communist Party 5%.

Party leaders came into conflict over who would be appointed interim prime minister before they finally agreed to follow the constitution and appoint Council of State president Panayiotis Pikrammenos to take over the role, according to Kathimerini.

The head of Greece’s highest administrative court was chosen after the option of keeping on his predecessor, Lucas Papademos, was rules out. New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras and PASOK chief Evangelos Venizelos were both in favor of Papademos continuing but head of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), Alexis Tsipras rejected proposing former Economy Minister Gerasimos Arsenis, accoridng to Protothema.gr.

The clash over Arsenis was settled when Tsipras said he would accept Papademos as premier, although Communist Party (KKE) leader Aleka Papariga and Independent Greeks chief Panos Kammenos objected and it was decided that, as decreed by the Greek Constitution, the eldest of Greece’s senior judges would be given the position.

The election campaign for June seems to shift its attention around the issue of Greece’s membership of the eurozone, with PASOK and New Democracy arguing that SYRIZA’s position of absolute rejection of the EU-IMF memorandum would lead to Greece being forced out of the eurozone.

Pikrammenos was sworn in on Wednesday night and is expected to name a cabinet on Thursday that will tide the country over until new elections are held.

Meanwhile, the euro hit a four-month low on Wednesday and Germany paid the lowest rate in its history to borrow for 10 years, according to new data.

Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, said it was important to be  prepared for the possibility of Greece leaving the eurozone, warning that such a move would imply risks to growth, trade and financial markets.