A Metron Analysis opinion poll released on private Flash 96 radio station on Wednesday indicated that former culture minister Antonis Samaras was in the lead in the main opposition New Democracy (ND) leadership race over fellow candidate Dora Bakoyannis, a former foreign minister and Athens mayor, while the third candidate, Thessaloniki prefect Panagiotis Psomiadis, was trailing.

To a question on which of the three candidates was the most suited for the ND presidency, 44 percent of the respondents preferred Samaras, against 28 percent who favored Bakoyannis and 14 percent who opted for Psomiadis.

When narrowed down to ND voters, 41.4 percent preferred Samaras against 40.8 percent for Bakoyannis and 9.5 percent for Psomiadis. Compared with the previous poll by Metron Analysis on the same subject, Samaras' popularity has declined by 2.4 percentage points.

To a question on who they would choose for ND leader, 44.6 percent of the total respondents preferred Samaras, against 27.8 percent for Bakoyannis and 17.8 percent for Psomiadis, while among the ND voters 42.6 percent of the respondents preferred Samaras against Bakoyannis with 39.7 percent and Psomiadis with 14.6 percent.

In the event of a second round (among the two top vote-getters if none of the candidates amasses a majority in the first round of the election, slated for November 29), Samaras was preferred by 49.0 percent of the ND voters among the respondents, against 46.4 percent for Bakoyannis. However, among the ND voters who stated that they will definitely vote in a second round, Bakoyannis led with 50 percent over Samaras with 49.2 percent.

The opinion poll was conducted by telephone on November 18-17 on a nationwide sampling of 1,204 people.