President_of_greece

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President of the Hellenic Republic
Great State Seal of the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic
Incumbent	Karolos Papoulias (took office: 12 March 2005)
Term length	5 years
Inaugural	Michail Stasinopoulos
Formation	18 December 1974
Website	www.presidency.gr

Greece

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Greece

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The President of the Republic (Greek: Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας), colloquially referred to in English as the President of Greece, is the elected head of state of Greece. The incumbent is Dr Karolos Papoulias.

Contents 1 Powers 2 Election of the President 3 Oath of Office 4 History of the office 4.1 List of Presidents 5 Official residence 6 See also

Powers

Further information: Presidential Departments (Greece)

The President of the Republic is the Head of State, the nominal Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and occupies the first place in the Greek order of precedence. His position however is largely ceremonial, as the President\'s powers were limited under the current Greek Constitution of 1974, and again curtailed in the Constitutional amendment of 1986. The Prime Minister of Greece is the active chief executive of the Greek government.

Election of the President

The President of the Republic is elected for five years by the Parliament (not through direct popular vote). Article 32 of the Greek Constitution provides that a President should be elected by roll call by a special session of Parliament and at least a month before the incumbent President is due to leave office in either one or two stages. The tenure of the President may be extended in the event of War or if the voting for a new President is not completed in time.

The first stage includes three separate ballots:

• First Ballot - 200 Votes

In the first ballot the votes of a two-thirds majority of the total number of Members of Parliament is required.

• Second Ballot - 200 Votes

If the said majority is not attained, the ballot is repeated after five days, the same majority being required.

• Third Ballot - 180 Votes

If once again the required majority is not attained, voting is repeated after five days, the person receiving the votes of a three-fifths majority of the total number of Members of Parliament shall be elected President of the Republic. If the third ballot also fails to produce the required majority, Parliament shall be dissolved within ten days of the vote and elections for a new Parliament shall be called.

The second stage of the procedure is conducted by the new Parliament as soon as it has constituted itself as a body and includes another three successive ballots:

• First Ballot - 180 Votes

In the first ballot the votes of a three-fifths majority of the total number of Members of Parliament is required.

• Second Ballot - 151 Votes

Should this majority not be attained, voting is repeated within five days and the person receiving an absolute majority of the votes of the total number of Members of Parliament shall be elected President of the Republic.

• Third Ballot

If the second ballot fails to produce the required majority, then within five days the third and final vote takes place between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes. The person who receives a relative majority shall be elected President of the Republic.

Oath of Office

The presidential standard

Before taking office, the President must recite an oath before Parliament:

"I swear in the name of the Holy, Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity to safeguard the Constitution and the laws, to ensure their faithful observance, to defend the national independence and territorial integrity of the Country, to protect the rights and liberties of the Greeks and to serve the general interest and the progress of the Greek People."

History of the office

Further information: List of heads of state of Greece and History of the Hellenic Republic

List of Presidents

The Presidents of the Third Hellenic Republic (1974-today) are:

• Michail Stasinopoulos--December 18, 1974 - June 19, 1975 - Interim President, elected by the Parliament

• Constantine Tsatsos--June 19, 1975 - May 15, 1980 - Elected by the Parliament, one full (five-year) term

• Constantine Karamanlis--May 15, 1980 - March 10, 1985 - Elected by the Parliament, first term, resigned

• Ioannis Alevras--March 10, 1985 - March 30, 1985 - Speaker of the Parliament, President pro tempore

• Christos Sartzetakis--March 30, 1985 - May 4, 1990 - Elected by the Parliament, one full (five-year) term

• Constantine Karamanlis--May 4, 1990 - March 10, 1995 - Elected by the Parliament, second full (five-year) term

• Kostis Stephanopoulos--March 10, 1995 - March 12, 2005 - Elected by the Parliament, two consecutive five-year terms

• Karolos Papoulias--March 12, 2005 - present - Elected by the Parliament, incumbent

ImageSize = height:70 PlotArea = height:50 left:30 bottom:20 DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1975 till:2008 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1975 PlotData=

color:white  mark:(line,white) align:center fontsize:S  
color:blue  from:1975 till:1980 shift:(0,2)  textcolor:white  text:"Constantine~Tsatsos"
color:blue  from:1980 till:1985 shift:(0,2)   textcolor:white  text:"Constantine~Karamanlis"
color:green  from:1985 till:1990 shift:(0,2)   textcolor:white  text:"Christos~Sartzetakis"
color:blue  from:1990 till:1995 shift:(0,2)   textcolor:white  text:"Constantine~Karamanlis"
color:blue  from:1995 till:2005 shift:(0,-4)   textcolor:white  text:"Kostis Stephanopoulos"
color:green  from:2005 till:end shift:(0,2)   textcolor:white  text:"Karolos~Papoulias"

Official residence

The official residence of the President is the Presidential Palace, formerly the Royal Palace, in central Athens.

See also

• List of heads of state of Greece

v • d • e Heads of state of the European Union member states
Fischer (AT) · Albert II (BE2) · Parvanov (BG) · Christofias1 (CY) · Klaus (CZ) · Margrethe II (DK2) · Hendrik Ilves (ET) · Halonen (FI) · Sarkozy1 (FR) · Köhler (DE) · Papoulias (GR) · Sólyom (HU) · McAleese (IE) · Napolitano (IT) · Zatlers (LV) · Adamkus (LT) · Henri (LU2) · Fenech Adami (MT) · Beatrix (NL2) · Kaczyński (PL) · Cavaco Silva (PT) · Băsescu (RO) · Gašparovič (SK) · Türk (SL) · Juan Carlos I (ES2) · Carl XVI (SE2) · Elizabeth II (UK2)
1 Also members of the European Council. 2 Monarchies.

v • d • e Heads of State of Europe
Albania · Andorra · Armenia1 · Austria · Azerbaijan1 · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus1 · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Georgia1 · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Kazakhstan1 · Kosovo · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey1 · Ukraine · United Kingdom · Vatican City
1 Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the border between Europe and Asia.

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