P. Pavlopoulos, SYRIZA's choice for president: Why him?

The Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) gave a lukewarm reception to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' proposal of Prokopis Pavlopoulos - a 65-year-old constitutional lawyer - for the honorary post of President of the Republic. The choice came as a surprise as his name had not been mentioned in discussions speculating the identity of SYRIZA's candidate. Even Pavlopoulos himself seemed surprised, stating he had not expected the phone call at midday on Tuesday that was followed by the proposal. So great was his own surprise that he philosophised that life works in mysterious ways.

The former center-right conservative lawmaker was a minister under the conservative New Democracy between 2004 and 2009. Though he seems like an odd choice for the leftist government, the move makes sense considering SYRIZA's coalition with the right-wing anti-austerity Independent Greeks (ANEL). ANEL leader Panos Kammenos stated that he would only vote for a candidate who was against the loan agreements. In the past Pavlopoulos had not only stated his opposition to loan agreements but had also declared the dismissals of public servants as unconstitutional, aligning his views with those of SYRIZA.

Noteworthy is the fact that the previous Greek government had failed to get its candidate Stavros Dimas elected, and with Pavlopoulos as candidate, Tsipras will have one less worry by (a) securing conservative votes; (b) showing his good will as an indication of his intention to work with all political factions; (c) causing some friction within the conservative ND.

Following his meeting with Tsipras, Pavlopoulos said that the presidency would give him the opportunity to "humbly contribute to the struggle for Greece and Europe". In reference to Europe he said that the European Union...