Prokopis Pavlopoulos

Parliament is to vote on Wednesday morning on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' nomination for president, top judge Katerina Sakellaropoulou, with indications that she will draw a large majority in the 300-seat House, becoming Greece's first female head of state.

Greek opposition parties had mixed reactions to the announcement of Katerina Sakellaropoulou, a top judge, as a nominee for the position of the President of the Republic, with their lawmakers expected to meet on Thursday or in the coming days to decide on their official party position.

Seeking to rise above partisanship and reach the widest consensus possible regarding the government's pick for the country's new president, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis nominated Katerina Sakellaropoulou, a top judge, for the post, in a televised address on state-run broadcaster ERT on Wednesday evening.

Greece's prime minister announced on Jan. 15 his nomination of one of the country's top judges, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, as its next president.

In a televised address on state-run channel TV ERT, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the next president would have to incorporate the nation's unity, as well as have a sense of duty, knowledge, prestige and international experience.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has nominated Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou, the first woman chief justice of the Council of State, to be the first woman president of the Hellenic Republic.

The surprise nomination was announced by the PM in a nationally televised address on the evening of 15 January.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis nominated Katerina Sakellaropoulou, a female top judge, for the country's next president, in a televised address on the state-run broadcaster ERT on Wednesday evening.
Sakellaropoulou is the current president of the Council of State, the country's top administrative court.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that he is proposing the head of the Council of State, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, as a nominee for the country's next president, in a televised address on the state-run broadcaster ERT on Wednesday evening.

If her candidacy is approved by Parliament, she will replace incumbent Prokopis Pavlopoulos, whose term expires in March. 

It is expected to be a matter of days before Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reveals his proposed nominee for the country's next president, with sources indicating that an announcement may follow the submission of the conservative government's new electoral law in Parliament this week.

The procedures to elect the next Greek president will be set in motion by February 13, according to Parliament Speaker Konstantinos Tasoulas.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Tasoulas said the electoral law will soon be tabled in Parliament and this will pave the way for the relevant House procedures to begin for the election of the president.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will pay a formal visit to Athens from January 2-4 and sign the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between Greece, Israel and Cyprus for the East Med pipeline with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.