ATHENS : Picking a President

Longtime rivals Constantine Mitsotakis and Andreas Papandreou face off in deja vu national elections Sunday in which Greek voters will decide whether to hew to painful free market economics or to restore free-spending socialism.

The conservative Mitsotakis, who came to power in 1989 on the third of three closely spaced electoral tries to replace the socialist Papandreou, was forced into early elections when the defection of a right-wing former foreign minister cost him a narrow parliamentary majority.

In a country long marked by a bitter left-right split, Papandreou, who ruled for eight years and who leads in pre-election polls, promises voters relief from the austerity that has underpinned Mitsotakis’ attempts to restructure the economy in favor of the private sector. Mitsotakis says the long-term results of his program will modernize Greece.