ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's left-wing government says it is planning to appoint new top judges before a July 7 general election, a decision that has drawn criticism from opposition conservatives who hold a big lead in opinion polls.

Government officials said Wednesday that the government was expected to back the move before the current term of the judiciary leadership expires at the end of June.

The conservative New Democracy party is demanding that the appointments be delayed until after the election.

New Democracy won the European election vote in Greece on Sunday by a wide margin. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called early national elections as the results came in. His Syriza party trailed New Democracy by more than 9 percentage points.