Voting under way in Greece election with Tsipras narrowly leading polls

Polling is under way in Greece’s general election, with analysts saying that the outcome is too close to call.

Late polling put the outgoing leftist prime minister, Syria’s Alexis Tsipras, a point or two ahead of his centre-right rival, Vangelis Meimarakis of New Democracy, but neither party looks likely to gain an outright majority. Nevertheless, opinion polls in Greece indicate millions of the country’s voters were undecided before the polls.

The last voter survey forecasts a victory for Tsipras by margins ranging from 0.7 to 3 percentage points, the AFP news agency reported.

Tsipras resigned last month forcing early elections. He won January's poll on an anti-austerity ticket, but had to accept economic reforms in exchange for a $96bn bailout package from Greece's international creditors.

With nine parties hoping to enter parliament, whoever wins is unlikely to secure an outright majority and may need to form a coalition.

Moreover, with both parties already agreeing to implement the tough terms of Greece’s latest €86 billion bailout, for most people, the outcome of the lection is largely the same no matter who wins. The winning party must carry out a radical overhaul of the country’s shattered economy and major changes to its welfare, pensions, health and taxation systems.

In his final campaign rally, Tsipras said a Syriza victory would show “whether the old system that ruled for 40 years will return, or whether we take a step forward”. Voters must “say no to corruption, no to the enshrining of the oligarch establishment”, he said.

Meimarakis told supporters that Tsipras had held out “false promises” about ending the punishing austerity measures that have seen the Greek economy shrink by a quarter and left nearly 26% of its workforce unemployed.

“It’s time we did away with incompetence,” said the 61-year-old former defence minister and parliamentary speaker, who has tried to lead his party more to the centre and been rewarded with an unexpected bounce in its popularity. “The Syriza experiment ends on Sunday.”

The election is Greece’s fifth in six years. In January, Tsipras swept to victory in the general election, pledging to “eradicate” austerity, but after months of brutal negotiations, with capital controls in place and ejection from the eurozone looming, Tsipras was forced to perform an about-turn despite the government’s acceptance of the deal despite more than 60% of the voters rejecting austerity in a July referendum.

Neither party looks likely to secure the roughly 38% share of the vote needed for an outright majority in Greece’s 300-seat parliament. Whoever wins will need the support of perhaps two smaller parties, leaving coalition talks – most likely with the other main pro-European parties, the centrist To Potami and socialist PASOK – a near certainty.

Tsipras has repeatedly ruled out collaborating with New Democracy, an option Meimarakis has held out. Greece’s creditors have hinted they would favour a “grand coalition” which might enjoy the broad backing that will be needed to implement the bailout reforms.

About 9.8m Greeks, are eligible to cast their ballot. In theory, voting is compulsory but the rule is not enforced; turnout for this election is thought likely to fall below the 64% recorded in January.