Greek Parliament is scheduled to hold the second roll-call vote for the election of a new president of the Hellenic Republic today, in which the candidates must against be backed by a two-thirds majority, or 200 MPs, in order to be elected.
In the first round of voting held on Saturday, January 25, the candidate with the most votes was former parliament president Constantinos Tasoulas, nominated by ruling New Democracy, who received 160 votes. Former minister Louka Katseli, nominated by opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance was second with 40 votes, main opposition PASOK-Movement for Change nominee Tasos Giannitsis, also a former minister, was third with 34 votes and the candidate nominated by the opposition ‘Niki’ party received 14 votes. A total of 49 MPs abstained, voting present, and three MPs were not present.
In the event that none of the candidates receives the required number of votes on Friday, a third round of voting will be held after five days in which candidates must receive a minimum of 180 votes, or three fifths of the plenum, to be elected. If none are successful in this round also, a fourth round of voting will be held in which the candidates will need a simple majority of 151 votes in the 300-member Parliament to be elected. A fifth and final vote, again after five days, is envisaged in the event that this also proves unsuccessful, in which the candidate with a relative majority of all votes cast will be elected president.
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Source: ANA-MPA
