Greece’s PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday nominated Konstantinos Tasoulas, the speaker of Parliament, as the next President to replace Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
Mitsotakis nominated Tasoulas for the post currently held by Katerina Sakellaropoulou, during a televised statement. He said that Tasoulas is a widely accepted politician who was elected President of the Greek Parliament three times with the strongest majority in modern Greek history: with 283, 270 and 249 votes.
“His unifying spirit and virtues have been demonstrated by the impeccable manner in which he has, until now, directed the work of the Parliament in a very difficult party landscape,” Mitsotakis added.
He also addressed his decision to break with tradition by nominating someone from the governing majority, arguing that the key criterion is public trust. “Neither the different backgrounds of a president and a prime minister guarantee institutional balance, nor does their political alignment inherently create risks for the state,” he remarked.
Mitsotakis also expressed gratitude to outgoing President Katerina Sakellaropoulou for her term, praising her for humanizing the presidency. However, he added that the country now requires a president with “a long-standing public service record and clear political attributes.”
Tasoulas is a Greek politician and lawyer, serving as President of the Hellenic Parliament since 18 July 2019. A member of the governing New Democracy, he is an MP representing the region of Ioannina since 2000.
He has also served as Minister of Culture and Sports, and Deputy Minister of National Defense.
Mitsotakis’ announcement is expected to set events into motion, with the presidential vote likely to take place by February 13. Some analysts suggest the prime minister is eager to avoid further delays, potentially scheduling the vote as early as next week.
The election of the President in Greece
The President of the Hellenic Republic, who has mostly a ceremonial role, is elected by the members of the Greek Parliament, where the governing New Democracy has 156 MPs. Early rounds for the election demand 200 votes, later falling to 180 and then 151 votes.
He or she regulates the functions of the institutions of the Republic according to Article 30, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution. However, the individual elected holds no actual executive powers.
The institution of the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic was established in 1975, one year after the restoration of democracy in Greece following the seven-year military dictatorship, which lasted from 1967 to 1974.
The President is elected by Parliament and serves a term of five years. He or she has the right to re-election only once. The elected President takes an oath before Parliament prior to assuming his or her duties, the form of which is outlined in the Constitution.
Biography of Konstantinos Tasoulas
Tasoulas was born in Ioannina, Greece on July 17, 1959. He studied at the Athens Law School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and earned a law degree in 1981.
He also worked as a lawyer in Athens and London, while from 1981 to 1990 he was special secretary of Evangelos Averoff, before being elected mayor of Kifissia.
He holds the record as the Speaker of Parliament with the most votes; having been elected with a record 283 votes “for” (ND, Syriza, KINAL, EL, MeRA25), 15 votes “present” (KKE) and two abstentions (Dimitris Tzanakopoulos and Effie Achtsioglou).
It was also the first time a Speaker of Parliament was elected by open ballot.
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