Stavros Dimas

Parliament dissolved, Greece to vote on Jan. 25

ATHENS -- The Greek parliament has been dissolved ahead of early elections to be held on January 25, as announced by the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

Greek MPs on Monday failed in their third and final attempt to elect former EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas (73) as head of state.

Greece's parliament was formally dissolved Wednesday by a decree, officially marking the start of a monthlong election campaign, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The decree, cosigned by President Karolos Papoulias and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, sets January 25 as the date for new elections and announced that parliament would reconvene on February 5 following those elections.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is due to meet President Karolos Papoulias on Tuesday to ask for Parliament to be dissolved, ushering in one of the briefest election campaigns Greece has ever known before national polls are held on January 25.

Greek MPs are due to vote in the third and final presidential ballot at noon, local time, with the government’s candidate Stavros Dimas needing to gather 180 votes so snap elections can be avoided.

Greece's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has said he will do everything to ensure that Parliament will elect a new head of state in the third and final attempt on December 29, Monday.

A third failure will result in a snap poll in January, a year and a half ahead of schedule.

Ahead of Monday’s third critical presidential vote, government officials were canvassing MPs over the holidays in a last-ditch bid to garner additional support for the coalition’s candidate, former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas, and to avert snap elections.

Coalition leaders Antonis Samaras and Evangelos Venizelos have been busy over the holiday period in a bid to win over lawmakers in Greece's 300-seat Parliament to vote for their presidential candidate in the third and final ballot on December 29.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is expected to make one last public appeal to wavering MPs to back his presidential candidate, Stavros Dimas, but will not offer anything more in exchange than he already has, Kathimerini understands.

German 10-year yields were about three basis points from a record low on Tuesday, outperforming higher-yielding peers, as Greece’s failure to elect a president boosted the anti-austerity opposition’s chances of ousting the government.

Greek MPs failed on Dec. 23 to elect a president in a second vote in parliament, bringing an early general election, feared by financial markets and the country's EU-IMF creditors, a step closer.
      
The government candidate, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, fell 32 votes short of the required 200 votes, meaning a third and final vote will be held on December 29.