Greek parliament fails to elect new president in 3rd attempt

ATHENS

Greece’s parliament on Thursday failed to elect the country’s new president in a third round of voting.

Konstantinos Tasoulas, a former parliament speaker nominated by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ center-right New Democracy party, received 160 votes from lawmakers, as he did in the previous two rounds.

Even with less backing needed than in the previous two votes, it was still 20 short of the 180 votes needed for an outright win.

However, in the fourth and final round of voting, scheduled for next week, the threshold for victory drops to 151 votes.

In Thursday’s vote, Louka Katseli, 72, an economist and politician backed by the leftist SYRIZA and New Left Party, secured 40 votes, while Tasos Giannitsis, 80, a veteran politician supported by the main opposition party PASOK, garnered 34.

Kostas Kyriakou, a 70-year-old jurist and candidate of the far-right Niki party, received 14 votes.

In Greece, the president holds a largely ceremonial role.

• Greek parliament
• Greek presidency