Greece will hold a snap general election on Sunday, after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his left-wing Syriza party suffered a big defeat in May's European elections. It'll be the sixth Greek general election since the 2008 financial crisis. Opinion polls indicate the conservative New Democracy party will return to power. Filio Kontrafouri has more from Athens.

Young, talented and educated. Yet, 24-year-old Chara has been unable to find a job as a journalist since she got her degree four years ago. She did several unpaid internships and sent dozens of resumes, but working as a waitress is the only way she has been able to make ends meet.

CHARA MAKRI JOURNALISM SCHOOL GRADUATE "I don't know what else to do. I don't know if I should stay in Greece or leave. I love my country so much that I don't want to leave. But my country is pushing me to leave and go to another country, because there I'm sure I'll find a job (as a journalist)."

Nearly forty percent of young Greeks were unemployed in 2018. Overall unemployment remains the highest in Europe. Capital controls restricting the free movement of money remain in place for a 4th year. One in three Greeks work part-time, earning less than 400 euros, or roughly 450 dollars a month. Heavy taxation has brought the middle class to its knees. Velisaria Roka sells her handbags at half-price and still no one buys them.

VELISARIA ROKA SHOP OWNER "The middle class has vanished. Too many people were left without a job. People are suffering, they are on the border of poverty. At least on a retail level, they do not buy anything. The just eat a souvlaki, drink some wine and say thank God."

Starting in 2010, Greece accepted three bailouts to avoid bankruptcy and crashing out of the Eurozone. The ruling Syriza party came to power opposing austerity and then embraced it.

FILIO KONTRAFOURI ATHENS, GREECE "Greece exited its last bailout program one year ago. So, what Greeks now expect from any new government formed after Sunday's elections is to start undoing some of the insufferable damage done to the country and to their lives in the last nine years."

Prime Minister Tsipras says his government ended Greece's bailout era and the country is now free to shape its future. The conservatives, leading in the polls, accuse the leftist government for ruining Greece. Both parties promise more jobs and better ones, less taxes, growth and a revival of the middle class.

ALEXANDROS KLOSSAS JOURNALIST "What's at stake now is not whether there's a bailout agreement, or not, but rather the next day after the bailouts. It's about the country's road map towards growth."

Some believe a change in government will finally strengthen the economy.

VELISARIA ROKA SHOP OWNER "I believe in reforms and that without growth, nothing will happen. Also, growth cannot come without less taxes. Yet I believe growth will come with this change of government we all expect. Like we'll be resurrected."

Other voters are more pessimistic.

CHARA MAKRI JOURNALISM SCHOOL GRADUATE "I don't think anything will change with these elections, or the next or the next. We need something very strong, a strong shock so the situation in Greece changes. Because with this economic crisis we have reached our limits. We have hit rock-bottom."

Greece's problems remain deep and complex. Economists agree that it will take a lot of time and effort to solve them, no matter who wins on Sunday. Filio Kotrafouri, CGTN, Athens.