Greek Lawmakers Elect Country’s New President in Fourth Attempt

  • Only a simple majority was needed in latest round of voting
  • Constantine Tassoulas is Greek premier’s pick for president
Constantine Tassoulas in Athens on Feb. 12.Photographer: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images
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Greek lawmakers elected the country’s new president in a fourth round of voting.

Constantine Tassoulas, a close ally of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his pick for the role, secured 160 votes and was elected in Wednesday’s vote, when he only needed a simple majority of 151 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. In the previous three rounds he also received 160 votes mostly from Mitsotakis’s center-right New Democracy party, which has 156 members of parliament, but failed to get elected as the threshold was higher.