The survey published by newspaper To Vimaand conducted immediately after Thursday's summit agreement on a new 130 billion euro bailout package, showed that nearly 60 percent of people viewed the deal as negative or probably negative.

 

Around half of those surveyed said the agreement signed in Brussels was a blow to the country's sovereignty, handing more control over economic affairs to the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

 

Only 36 percent of the 1,009 people questioned in the telephone poll said the package was positive or probably positive for the country.

 

Anger at the latest round of austerity measures demanded by Greece's international creditors after the government missed deficit targets erupted into protests in many towns and cities during a national holiday Friday.

 

 

Nearly three-quarters of those questioned said they wanted Greece to remain in the euro, with less than one-fifth saying they wanted a return to the drachma currency.

 

Saturday's opinion poll showed that the majority of Greeks -- 55.5 percent -- wanted their political parties to show more unity.

 

Prime Minister George Papandreou's government has faced bitter opposition from both sides of the political spectrum and from within its own ranks to measures to cut the public payroll and reduce wages and pensions.

 

The party was reduced to just 153 members in the 300-seat parliament after Papandreou expelled one legislator for voting against labor reforms last week, prompting speculation that tough votes in the coming weeks on the 2012 budget and approval of the EU summit decisions could force it toward elections.

 

A large majority of those questioned, 75.6 percent, said they wanted the decisions from the EU summit to be approved by 180 lawmakers -- implying that the opposition would have to vote in favor of it.

 

But only 37.3 percent of those questioned said they wanted elections now.

 

The government, which has said the EU package will not trigger any fresh austerity measures, has rejected requiring a wider majority for the vote.

 

Most people said they would not want Papandreou to be in charge of a national unity government, with former ECB Vice President Lucas Papademos as the most favoured candidate followed by conservative opposition leader Antonis Samaras.

 

Samaras' New Democracy party was the most popular political group, with 22 percent support, followed by Papandreou's Socialist party on 15 percent. More than a quarter of Greeks said they were undecided on who they would vote for. (Reuters