THE ruling socialists and rival conservatives are running neck and neck ahead of tomorrow's first general election since the death of the veteran Greek leader, Andreas Papandreou.
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), of the Prime Minister, Mr Costas Simitis, claimed to have a "solid lead", but New Democracy said the latest polls gave it "a 2 point lead".
Mr Simitis (60), who took over as prime minister in January, has said the vote is a choice between "the new Greece" be offers, which would be part of a united Europe and of the single currency, and a return of the right which has been out of power since 1981 with the brief exception of 1990 to 1993.
New Democracy has aimed its campaign at ordinary Greeks, particularly farmers and pensioners who felt they had lost a champion when Mr Papandreou died in June and who are apprehensive about European integration.
The New Democracy leader, Mr Miltiades Evert (57), has promised retired farm workers who count for many votes in largely rural Greece - an immediate rise in living standards.
Mr Simitis, meanwhile, intends to pursue the "strong drachma" policy which has enabled Pasok to bring down inflation to less than 10 per cent and lower interests rates by 10 points.
The prime minister, who called the election a year before it was due in order to secure the popular mandate he presently lacks, has said Greece will strive to meet the criteria for monetary union laid down in the Maastricht treaty.
Also in the race to cash in on the Papandreou heritage is Mr Dimitris Tsovolas (54), leader of the Democratic Social Movement (Dikki), hoping to attract all those "left by the wayside by Maastricht".
Meanwhile, the Papandreou family feud has come back to haunt Pasok, with the late leader's son branding his widow, Ms Dimitra Liani as a power hungry vulture who ruined his father.
Mr Nikos Papandreou, who has written a heavily autobiographical novel about his childhood as the son of a Greek political giant was quoted by the European as saying his father's marriage to Ms Liani was not a happy one.
"This relationship ruined my father's political career and, I think, ultimately brought about his physical demise," he said. "But I do not think my father was happy in his marriage and I think he regretted it to the day he died."
In a statement sent to Athens newspapers, Ms Liani said it was vile to attack Mr Papandreou's personality by painting him as his wife's "meek instrument and said this was an effort to take commercial advantage of him - insinuating book sales.
Papandreou's children had been discreet about their notoriously bad relations with Ms Liani until an Athens court this month made public two of his wills - where he names her his sole heir and describes her as "the great love of my life". He left nothing to his four children, saying that his name was a good enough inheritance.