The poll, conducted by GfK Polonia for the Rzeczpospolita daily, gave PO 52 percent support, up from 48 percent in the pollster's previous survey and well ahead of the 35 percent seen for its main rival, the right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS). Such a result would give PO 252 seats in the 460-seat lower house of parliament. PO has ruled in coalition with the much smaller Peasants' Party (PSL) since taking power in 2007. The next parliamentary election is scheduled for next autumn. PO advocates liberal market reforms and joining the euro, whereas PiS is more socially conservative, economically statist and Euroskeptical. The survey showed the ex-communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) would be the only other party able to enter the new parliament, with eight percent of the vote. Another recent poll by the PBS DGA agency gave PO 45 percent of support against 24 percent for PiS. Analysts attributed PO's popularity ratings more to the lack of a credible alternative than to support for its policies. "This is a surprisingly good result (for PO) if we take into account the fact that the actions of the government are not highly valued by public opinion," Jacek Kucharczyk of the Institute of Public Affairs told the newspaper. Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government recently approved plans to hike value-added tax by one percentage point and cap spending growth in a drive to tackle a large budget deficit. But it has ruled out more painful tax increases or spending cuts to balance the books. Poland was the only member of the 27-nation European Union to avoid recession last year. Its economy is expected to expand by more than 3 percent this year as the recovery gathers steam.