The second round of voting for the election of a new president of Greece by the Greek parliament did not yield the necessary 200 votes for the only candidate – former EU commissioner, Stavros Dimas. The candidate, supported by the current governmental coalition made up of New Democracy and PASOK, received the support of only 168 MPs.
In the third and final round of voting, due to take place on 29 December, the threshold for the election of the president is set at 180 votes, which has prompted Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to undertake a last-minute campaign to try to secure the support of at least 12 additional MPs.
If the parliament fails to elect a president in the third round, Greece will have general elections, with the left-wing Syriza party poised to obtain the majority of votes, according to the latest polls. Syriza, which won the last European Parliament elections, is proposing a radical reorientation of economic policy, abandoning the Brussels-imposed austerity measures and renegotiating with creditors. Should they win, Greece would be the first country to openly defy the rationale that the EU is applying to address the financial crisis, under German leadership.
The editorial team of Katoikos
