Greece fails to gather support to elect new president

Athens, 17 December 2014 (MIA) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s bid to elect a new head of state faltered Wednesday in the parliament after he failed to gather enough support from lawmakers for his nominee in the first of three attempts, local media report.

With voting ongoing in Athens, more than 100 lawmakers in the country’s 300-seat chamber withheld their backing for Samaras’s candidate, Stavros Dimas, ensuring that he falls short of the 200 votes required for his election as president. Samaras has 155 lawmakers in his governing coalition.

Attention now turns to the second vote on Dec. 23, when Samaras again needs a two-thirds majority to win. If he fails in the third attempt, set for Dec. 29, parliament is to be dissolved and early elections called.

The prospect of early parliamentary elections has roiled financial markets in Greece, evoking memories of the height of the financial crisis in 2012 when the country’s euro membership was in jeopardy. Polls show anti-austerity opposition party Syriza ahead of Samaras’s New Democracy.