Greece bailout drama

‘Santa brings the president’

Published on 9 December 2014 at 09:25

Cover

Greece’s government announced on Monday it would hold a first round vote in a snap presidential election in Parliament on 17 December.
The decision was taken after MPs voted the 2015 budget and eurozone finance ministers approved a two-month exention of Greece’s bailout plan, which ends on 31 December, so as to allow Athens to reach a deal with the EU-ECB-IMF troika on the outstanding reforms needed to disburse the final tranche of the €240-billion package.
If no candidate gets 200 votes in the first ballot, a second vote will follow five days later. If that is inconclusive, a third round will be held with 180 votes needed for the election of a president. If the final vote is also inconclusive, the Athens daily writes that —

the country will go to snap general elections, and the next government will have to manage all major issues. It would probably be a government of [left opposition party] Syriza. Then, the hot potato will pass into the hands of [its leader], Alexis Tsipras.

Receive the best of European journalism straight to your inbox every Thursday
Tags

Was this article useful? If so we are delighted!

It is freely available because we believe that the right to free and independent information is essential for democracy. But this right is not guaranteed forever, and independence comes at a cost. We need your support in order to continue publishing independent, multilingual news for all Europeans.

Discover our subscription offers and their exclusive benefits and become a member of our community now!

Are you a news organisation, a business, an association or a foundation? Check out our bespoke editorial and translation services.

Support independent European journalism

European democracy needs independent media. Join our community!

On the same topic