Greek opposition leader Costas Karamanlis said on Monday there was no reason to fear a possible change of government ahead of next summer's Athens Olympics.

Karamanlis, whose conservative New Democracy party has a 10 point lead over the ruling socialists, told reporters" An election must be held by May 2004, three months before the Olympics. Karamanlis sought to soothe concerns of political upheavals being heeped on the organisational upheavals that have bedevilled the Games.

He told a news conference that, if elected, he would make no changes in key Olympic posts, including chief organiser Gianna Angelopoulos.

Angelopoulos, a former New Democracy politician, was called in by the socialists to help surmount political hurdles and other obstacles disrupting preparations for the Games.

Athens has been subjected to unprecedented warnings from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about the slow-pace of its preparations. The IOC says concerns persist but preparations are now on track.

Karamanlis appealed for parties to keep the Olympics out of the election. The modern Olympics were revived in Athens in 1896 and this will be their second staging in the Greek capital.

Asked if the Games could become an election issue because of statements by the ruling socialists that the Olympics were Prime Minister Costas Simitis trump card, he replied" "I think it is to the detriment of the government of Greece to bring the Olympics on to the election agenda."

Simitis and other ministers have said winning the Games and the subsequent effort to stage them would be played up during the election.

The PASOK socialist party has been in power for all but three years since 1981 and Simitis has been in charge since 1996.

For the four million Athenians, Olympic preparations have meant living in a giant construction site while transport and other infrastructure facilities have been built to accommodate the Games.

Karamanlis said his party had always supported the Games coming to Greece but believed Simitis' government had wasted taxpayer money in delayed preparations.

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