Meanwhile, ahead of a crucial European Central Bank meeting where a bond-buying program and emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) for banks are to be discussed, Samaras said he had spoken with ECB President Mario Draghi.

“My chief concern is the bolstering of the banking system and of the economy,” Samaras said, referring to the request by Greece’s systemic banks to be granted ELA access.

Following appearances in eastern Attica and the southern coastal suburbs of Athens Tuesday, Samaras is due in Thessaloniki Wednesday, where he is to stress the pivotal nature of the pending elections for the country’s course in Europe.

The remainder of New Democracy’s campaign is to focus on the “Samaras versus Tsipras dilemma,” sources indicated Tuesday, referring to SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras. ND party secretary Andreas Papamimikos Tuesday appealed to “people of the reformist center” who, he said, “must realize that there is no leeway for third or neutral votes.” “These elections are all about who is going to come first,” he said.

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In a speech before the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry last night, Samaras said an ND administration would gradually reduce the corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 25 percent and scale back a unified property tax (ENFIA), starting with a 7 percent cut this year.

He lashed out at SYRIZA for a lack of clarity on tax pledges – he claimed the leftists would impose a “barrage of taxes” despite their claims to the contrary – and slammed the party’s plans to rehire sacked civil servants and reverse privatizations.

SYRIZA officials, for their part, insisted the party would introduce a fair tax system and crack down on large-scale evaders along with corruption.

Meanwhile, amid speculation about potential alliances, PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos told Italian newspaper La Stampa he could work with SYRIZA’s leader. “Tsipras is like Harry Potter but if necessary we will cooperate with them,” he said.

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There’s a 15% chance Greece will leave the 19-nation currency union if Tsipras forms a coalition government with one of the centrist parties, the Bloomberg survey shows. That compares with 5% under an alliance led by New Democracy.

The risk increases to 20% if SYRIZA gets an overall majority, compared with 5% under a New Democracy majority, the poll shows.

A victory for Tsipras, either alone or in coalition, would result in debt relief for Greece, according to 87% of those polled, while 57% said the same of a Samaras victory.

“Compromise is not as hard as it looks,” said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Capital in Dublin. “SYRIZA does not have a democratic mandate to take Greece out of the single currency. It may have to form a coalition to govern, requiring compromise even on its flagship policy. And Europe can give.”

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As far as the new hydroplane routes and the prospect of foreign investments, Charalambous noted that “Greece can become a Maldives in Europe. It is a destination tourists from across the world want to visit. Investments in tourism will not stop, whether we remain in the Eurozone or return to the drachma. What is required is to project the right image to the rest of the world. Efforts made to attract foreign investments should not stop every time we have political developments.”

Regarding the cost of transportation, travel by seaplane will not be very expensive. For a half hour route, for example from Athens to Serifos, or Kos to Naxos, or Rhodes to Sitia, tickets are estimated at 75-80 euros. For a similar trip by conventional means of transportation, one should calculate costs to and from the airport, i.e. 35 euros to El. Venizelos airport, 22 euros from the Kos airport to the city of Kos, or 20 euros to Rhodes Airport.

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By Philip Chrysopoulos

He promised to scale back a unified property tax (ENFIA) as of this year, to introduce a flat corporate tax rate of 15 percent and to revoke pension and benefit cuts for ethnic Greeks from the Soviet Union and Black Sea region. He envisaged the creation of 770,000 jobs by boosting growth in a number of sectors, adding that primary residences would be protected and heralding incentives for the repatriation of funds removed from Greece during the crisis years.

“Now we are entering a growth period and it is time for increases,” Samaras said, noting that any boosts will be properly priced and will not unbalance the budget. He added that Greece could “exit the memorandum a year before schedule.”

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“It is the first time we are so well prepared,” said New Democracy’s executive members and emphasized that, despite the various press leaks, there was great willingness to participate in the ballots.

Similarly, Greek main opposition SYRIZA‘s central committee met today in order to take its final decisions on the matter. The special committee charged with the ballots drafting has completed its work and is expected to submit its proposals to the central committee, which might proceed with limited differentiations. The final ballots will be published today.

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By Aggelos Skordas