The third and final vote in the first phase of the critical Presidential elections is set to take place at noon on Monday. Should the government-sponsored candidate Stavros Dimas not be elected today, then general elections will take place on the 25th of January or 1st of February.
In order to secure Mr. Dimas’ election the coalition government will have to secure the support of 180 members of parliament. In the first vote Mr. Dimas received 160 votes and in the second he received an additional 8. In order to reach 180 votes, Mr. Dimas would have to attract the votes of MPs from the Democratic Left and Independent Greeks.
At present it seems unlikely that early elections will be avoided, as senior government officers have predicted that Mr. Dimas may receive a maximum of 173 or 175 votes. Nevertheless, should more MPs be considering to change their vote, they will do so at the final moment.
Live television coverage from Parliament
