2020 Greek presidential election

Last updated

2020 Greek presidential election
Flag of Greece.svg
  2014–2015 22 January 20202025 

300 members of the Hellenic Parliament
200 electoral votes needed to win
  President Sakellaropoulou.jpg
Nominee Katerina Sakellaropoulou
Party Independent
Electoral vote261
Supported by ND, Syriza & KINAL

President before election

Prokopis Pavlopoulos
New Democracy

President after election

Katerina Sakellaropoulou
Independent

An indirect presidential election were held in Greece on Wednesday 22 January 2020 for the President of the Hellenic Republic. Incumbent President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who was elected by the Hellenic Parliament on 18 February 2015, was eligible for re-election but was not suggested by the government.

Contents

Katerina Sakellaropoulou won the election with 261 votes. She was elected as the 13th and first female President of Greece. [1]

Date

The election procedure was held on Wednesday 22 January 2020.

Constitutional provisions

According to Article 32 the Constitution of Greece, the head of state is elected for a five-year term by the Hellenic Parliament in a special session at least a month before the incumbent's term expires. The first and second rounds require a super majority of 200 out of the 300-strong body, dropping to 180 on the third.

In the event of a non-election even after the third ballot, the parliament is to be dissolved and a snap election to be called within ten days. After reconvening, the new parliament holds a maximum of three further rounds of voting, with the required majority at 180 votes in the fourth and a simple majority of 151 votes in the fifth round. A sixth and last round would be contested between the two candidates with the most votes and decided by a relative majority.

However, on 25 November 2019 after a constitutional amendment, the parliament decided the dissolution of snap elections when the president is not elected in the first 3 ballots. That means the Article 32, Paragraph 4 of the Greek Constitution which says about the election of the President has changed and the new reform of the paragraph is: If after 3 ballots the president is not elected, the 4th ballot will be to 151 votes and the 5th and last ballot would be contested between the two candidates with the most votes and decided by a relative majority. That means the 6th ballot is removed[ citation needed ].

Candidates

In afternoon of Wednesday 15 January 2020, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that the government would suggest Katerina Sakellaropoulou for the presidency, who had been President of the Council of State since 2018. [2]

The next day, both SYRIZA [3] and KINAL [4] backed her candidacy. MeRA25 announced that they would not support Sakellaropoulou and suggested their own candidate, Magda Fissa. She is known as the mother of rapper Pavlos Fissas, who was murdered by supporters of the Golden Dawn in 2013. Later that night, Fissa stated that she had not been informed of the proposal by the Secretary-General of MeRA25, Yanis Varoufakis, and she later declined the offer, meaning that she would not be a candidate for the post. [5]

Procedure

.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key>ol{margin-left:1.3em;margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key>ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}@media(min-width:300px){.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key,.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key-wide{column-count:2}.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key-narrow{column-count:1}}@media(min-width:450px){.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key-wide{column-count:3}}
.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}
.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
New Democracy: 158
Syriza: 86
KINAL: 22
KKE: 15
EL: 10
MeRA25: 9 Grece Vouli 2019.svg
  •    New Democracy: 158
  •    Syriza: 86
  •    KINAL: 22
  •    KKE: 15
  •    EL: 10
  •    MeRA25: 9

On the morning of Wednesday 22 January 2020, the parliament elected Katerina Sakellaropoulou as 13th President of Greece with 261 votes. 33 MPs voted "present" and 6 MPs were absent. [6]

Overview

MPs from New Democracy, SYRIZA and KINAL voted in favor, while MPs from KKE, Greek Solution and MeRA25 voted present.

VotesResults
22 January 2020
Katerina Sakellaropoulou (Independent)261
Abstentions33
Absents6
Total300
Votes required200

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President of Greece</span> Head of state of Greece

The president of Greece, officially the President of the Hellenic Republic, commonly referred to in Greek as the President of the Republic, is the head of state of Greece. The president is elected by the Hellenic Parliament; the role has been mainly ceremonial since the 1986 constitutional reform. The office was formally established by the Constitution of Greece in 1975, but has antecedents in the Second Hellenic Republic of 1924–1935 and the Greek junta in 1973–1974 which predated the transition to the current Third Hellenic Republic. The incumbent, since 13 March 2020, is Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Greece since 16 February 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syriza</span> Greek political party

The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance, best known by the syllabic abbreviation SYRIZA, is a centre-left to left-wing political party in Greece. It was founded in 2004 as a political coalition of left-wing and radical left parties, and registered as a political party in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prokopis Pavlopoulos</span> President of Greece from 2015 to 2020

Prokopios "Prokopis" Pavlopoulos is a Greek retired politician, who served as the president of Greece from 2015 to 2020. A member of New Democracy, he previously was Minister of the Interior from 2004 to 2009. He was succeeded by Katerina Sakellaropoulou on 13 March 2020, who became the first woman to serve as President of Greece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Greece</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Greece are regarded as the most advanced in Southeast Europe and among all the neighboring countries. Public opinion on homosexuality in Greece is generally regarded as culturally liberal, with civil partnerships being legally recognised since 2015 and same-sex marriage since 16 February 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Hellenic Republic</span> Current state of Greece, established after the fall of the Military Junta in 1974

The Third Hellenic Republic is the period in modern Greek history that stretches from 1974, with the fall of the Greek military junta and the final confirmation of the abolishment of the Greek monarchy, to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giorgos Kaminis</span> Greek politician

Georgios Kaminis is a Greek American politician and professor of constitutional law. He was the Greek Ombudsman from April 2003 until September 2010 and Mayor of Athens from 2011 until 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The River (Greece)</span> Greek political party

The River was a centrist and social-liberal political party in Greece. The party was founded in February 2014 by Stavros Theodorakis. The party did not run in the 2019 elections and had no seats in the Hellenic Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014–2015 Greek presidential election</span>

Indirect presidential elections were held in Greece in December 2014 and February 2015 for the succession to Karolos Papoulias as President of the Hellenic Republic. The candidate of the ND–PASOK government, Stavros Dimas, failed to secure the required majority of MPs of the Hellenic Parliament in the first three rounds of voting in December. According to the provisions of the Constitution of Greece, a snap election was held on 25 January 2015, which was won by the left-wing Syriza party. Following the convening of the new Parliament, the presidential election resumed. On 18 February 2015, veteran ND politician Prokopis Pavlopoulos, backed by the Syriza-ANEL coalition government, was elected with 233 votes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">September 2015 Greek legislative election</span>

Legislative elections were held in Greece on Sunday, 20 September 2015, following Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' announced resignation on 20 August. At stake were all 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament. This was a snap election, the sixth since 2007, since new elections were not due until February 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PASOK – Movement for Change</span> Greek centre-left political alliance

The PASOK – Movement for Change is a political alliance in Greece, which was founded in March 2018, initially as "Movement for Change", mainly affiliated with the centre-left of the political spectrum. It includes the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and Movement of Democratic Socialists (KIDISO).

The European Realistic Disobedience Front, or MeRA25, is a left-wing Greek political party founded in 2018. Its founder and General Secretary is former Syriza MP and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. MeRa25 is part of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), the European Spring, and the Progressive International. Τhe movement sets the horizon for the year 2025 to draft a democratic constitution that will replace all the European treaties that are in force today. Yet, it failed to elect representatives in both the 2019 and 2024 European elections. A party of the same name, allied with the Greek party, was founded in Germany in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May 2023 Greek legislative election</span> General election in Greece

Snap parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 21 May 2023. All 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament were contested. They were the first elections since 1990 not to be held under a bonus seats system, due to amendments to the electoral law made in 2016. Instead, a purely proportional system was used.

The Greek Solution a political party in Greece founded by former MP Kyriakos Velopoulos. The party is right-wing to far-right and has been described as ideologically ultranationalist, national conservative, and right-wing populist. The party garnered 3.7% of the vote in the 2019 Greek legislative election, winning 10 out of the 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament and 4.18% of the vote in the 2019 European Parliament election in Greece, winning one seat in the European Parliament.

The 2024 European Parliament election in Greece was held on 9 June 2024 as part of the 2024 European Parliament election. This was the first to take place after Brexit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katerina Sakellaropoulou</span> President of Greece since 2020

Katerina Sakellaropoulou is a Greek judge who has been the president of Greece since 13 March 2020. She was elected by the Hellenic Parliament to succeed Prokopis Pavlopoulos on 22 January 2020. Prior to her election as president, Sakellaropoulou served as president of the Council of State, the highest administrative court of Greece. She is the country's first female president.

Thanassis Theocharopoulos is an agricultural economist, Greek politician and chairman of the Democratic Left (DIMAR). In 2019 he served as Tourism Minister for Syriza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June 2023 Greek legislative election</span>

Snap parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 25 June 2023. All 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament were contested. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for the snap vote after the May 2023 elections did not result in any party gaining a majority, although his centre-right New Democracy made unanticipated gains and increased its share of the vote. As a result, no coalition government was formed by any of the parties eligible to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Left (Greece)</span> Political party in Greece

The New Left is a pro-European left-wing political party in the Hellenic Parliament. It was founded on 5 December 2023 by eleven independent MPs who left the Syriza party. The president of the parliamentary group is Alexis Haritsis. The New Left officially became a party on 3 March 2024 after its founding conference.

The 2008 Leadership election of Synaspismos took place on 10 February 2008, during its 5th Congress. The two candidates were: Alexis Tsipras and Fotis Kouvelis. Tsipras won with 840 votes, while Kouvelis earned 342 votes, while 14 members voted blank or invalid.

References

  1. Greece elects Katerina Sakellaropoulou as first female president NBC News, 22 January 2020
  2. "Progressive Judge to become Greece's First Female President". The Guardian . Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  3. "Ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ λέει «ναι» στη Σακελλαροπούλου - Το ανακοινώνει στις 2:00 ο Τσίπρας". ethnos.gr (in Greek). 16 January 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  4. "ΠτΔ: Ναι και από το ΚΙΝΑΛ για την Σακελλαροπούλου". dikaiologitika.gr (in Greek). 16 January 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  5. "Η Μάγδα Φύσσα απέρριψε την πρόταση Βαρουφάκη για ΠτΔ". kathimerini.gr (in Greek). 16 January 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  6. "Εκλογή Προέδρου της Δημοκρατίας". vouliwatch.gr (in Greek). 16 January 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2023.