The roll call vote for a new President of the Republic took place in Parliament on Wednesday and as expected, the government-sponsored candidate Prokopis Pavlopoulos (pictured) was elected with an overwhelming majority.
The new President received 233 votes (from SYRIZA, the Independent Greeks and New Democracy), while the River and PASOK-nominated candidate Nikos Alivizatos received 30 votes and 32 MPs (KKE and Golden Dawn) decided to abstain.
Of the 300 MPs only 295 voted, as SYRIZA’s Yannis Michelogiannakis and Anna Gaitani and from New Democracy Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Alexandros Kontos and Savvas Anastasiadis were absent.
After the election, Mr. Alivizatos congratulated the new President and wishing him well in his new role. Mr. Alivizatos also expressed the hope that the new President will be a guarantor of democratic normalcy and not a passive observer of political developments.
The new President commented that the highest honor has turned into the greatest duty and stressed the four principles of the Presidential oath; strict adherence to the Constitutions, defending national sovereignty, protecting the vulnerable and the public interest. Mr. Pavlopoulos argued that “we are struggling with the other European people not just for us, but for Europe itself”.
