Greek Parliament didn’t vote a president even in the third final round of elections for head of state. Greek MPs chose early elections instead of a president and replacement for the President Karolos Papoulias.
In the following days, by order of the current President Papoulias, Speaker of Greek Parliament Evangelos Meimarakis will dissolve Parliament and announce elections, probably on 25 January.
168 MPs voted for the only candidate proposed by the governing coalition, Stavros Dimas, same as in the second round, without a single vote more. Today, the support of 180 MPs was necessary for Dimas to be elected and the Greek Government to keep power.
The attempt of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to secure national consensus for Dimas in exchange for government expansion and elections at the end of 2015 failed. His statement is expected shortly.
SYRIZA is pleased with the outcome and is looking forward to the opportunity to win the early elections and form a Government.
It is expected the pre-election period to bring a major political earthquake and new uncertainties.