ATHENS: Greece's president prepared to meet political chiefs Sunday in a final attempt to forge an emergency coalition and avoid fresh polls, amid heightened fears of a eurozone exit following inconclusive elections.

President Carolos Papoulias “will summon party leaders in a bid to form a government that will enjoy the backing of the parliamentary body that emerged from general elections on May 6,” his office said in a statement Saturday.

The political impasse must be overcome by Thursday, when parliament convenes, or new elections will have to be called in June.

A new poll published hours before the meetings showed Greeks were desperate for a coalition government that will keep the country in the euro.

An overriding 72 percent said parties should cooperate “at all costs” in the Kappa Research poll published in To Vima weekly.

And in response to a separate question, 78.1 percent said the new government should do “whatever it takes” to keep Greece in the euro.

The leaders of the conservative, radical left and socialist parties, which took the top three places in last weekend's polls, all failed in previous attempts to build a coalition.

Papoulias will meet them at 0900 GMT Sunday, hoping to convince them that it is in the national interests to cooperate within a unity government.

The president will later meet separately with heads of smaller parties elected to parliament, including the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, his office said.

Papoulias on Saturday said there were “grains of optimism” that a coalition could be formed between the conservatives, the socialists and the small pro-European Democratic Left party, according to his office.

“Things are rather difficult,” he told socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos, noting that Greece needed to be represented at a eurozone finance ministers' meeting on Monday, a Nato meeting on Thursday and an EU summit on Friday.

Venizelos told Papoulias that the three parties -- New Democracy, Pasok and Democratic Left, which have a total of 168 deputies in the 300-seat parliament -- could form a temporary two-year government to keep Greece in the eurozone.

The goal would also be to “drastically” improve a multi-billion euro loan deal with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, he added.