Popularity of the ruling Socialists PASOK party is still slipping, though the party leads compared to the opposition conservative New Democracy.

According to the poll carried out in the beginning of January, showed the socialists leading with 38,5 percent, if elections were held now, against 30,5 percent for the conservatives, the Reuters agency reported.

The communist party came third with 10,5 percent, followed by the anti-austerity Left Coalition with 6,0 percent and the far-right LAOS with 5,5 percent. The poll showed an abstention rate of 34 percent.

Compared to a previous poll, the popularity of PASOK has declined by one percentage point, which was expected considering austerity policies imposed to deal with the country's debt crisis.