New Democracy party leader Antonis Samaras waves at supporters after his party came first in the national Greek's election, in central Athens, on June 17, 2012. The pro-bailout conservative New Democracy party beat the anti-bailout leftist Syriza party in Greece's crucial election on Sunday, according to the updated exit poll released nearly two hours after all polling stations were closed. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

The pro-bailout conservative New Democracy party beat the anti-bailout leftist Syriza party in Greece's crucial election on Sunday, according to the updated exit poll released nearly two hours after all polling stations were closed.

The latest exit poll with a complete projection, which has a 3-percent margin of error, showed that New Democracy garnered 28.6 to 30 percent of votes, compared to Syriza's 27.5 to 28.4 percent. Opinion polls two weeks ago had predicted a tight race between the two.

If the 50-seat reward for the winning party is counted, New Democracy should secure 127 seats in the parliament, while Syriza gets 72 and the third-place Socialist PASOK gets 32, according to the poll.

The final official result of the polling is set to be released on Monday. In theory, if New Democracy joins hands with PASOK, the two should have more than 150 of the parliament's 300 seats to form a coalition government, but it is unclear if both sides intend to do so.

New Democracy came first in the May election, but failed to form a government after tough negotiations, thus forcing Greek people to go to the polls for the second time in six weeks.

Sunday's repeat election has been closely watched by Europe and the world, as an anti-bailout government may pave the way for a chaotic Greek default and euro exit.

Both New Democracy and Syriza's leaders have pledged to keep Greece in the eurozone, but the latter insists on tearing down the bailout agreement tied with austerity measures, while New Democracy promises a mild approach of renegotiating with European leaders for softer austerity terms.

About 80 percent of the Greek people want their country to keep the euro, but many are angered by tough austerity terms requiring salary and pension cuts. The two traditional parties, New Democracy and PASOK, were punished by voters in the May election for backing bailout agreement.

Since the debt crisis first surfaced in Greece in 2009, its government has twice been forced to seek international rescue that came with tough austerity terms often accused of exacerbating Greece's recession.

The Greek drama and the larger debt crisis in the eurozone is set to dominate the upcoming G20 summit in Mexico on the next day of Sunday's election, while the new Greek leadership, if there's any, may formally negotiate with other European leaders at a Brussels summit in two weeks.