ATHENS – Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it might be something that Greece’s major opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras should remember as he pushes for early elections.

The former premier, who reneged on virtually all his promises during a 4 1/2-year reign that ended in an ignomious defeat to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ New Democracy in July, 2018 is still trailing by 8.5 percent.

That has remained constant since earlier surveys although the Leftists’ leader constant shots at Mitsotakis’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, education and support for Ukraine over Russia’s invasion chipped away at what had been leads up to 14 percent.

The ruling Conservatives had a 33.5-25 percent leader according to a survey y Pulse company on behalf of Greek broadcaster SKAI which also showed a surprising rebound for the new center-left PASOK-KINAL at 14 percent.

That was double what it had been before a name change for what had been the Movement for Change that was led by veterans of PASOK, which disbanded after plunging in popularity for backing harsh austerity measures to be a junior partner in a previous New Democracy government.

PASOK-KINAL has come back under the leadership of Member of the European Parliament Nikos Androulakis, who was elected late in 2021 after the death of former leader Fofi Gennimata.

In fourth in their usual place of political irrelevance, at 5.5 percent and slipping, was the KKE Communists, followed by the ultra-nationalist Greek Solution at 4.5 percent and the radical-leftist MeRA25 at 3 percent, the benchmark needed to get into Parliament.

The survey respondents also said that Mitsotakis was  big favorite to be Prime Minister, routing Tsipras by a margin of 39-26 percent as the Leftist leaders has frantically tried to claw back with promises similar to those he made before winning in 2015 and then breaking them.