As expected, there was no “white smoke” was sent up from Parliament during the second round of voting for the election of the Greek President. With no surprises or significant changes, all 300 MPs cast their votes.
Results of the Second Round:
160 votes for Tasoulas
Konstantinos Tasoulas secured 160 votes, including 156 from the ruling party and additional support from right-wing independent MPs such as Antonis Samaras, Marios Salmas, Pavlos Sarakis (formerly of Hellenic Solution), and Haris Katsivardas (formerly of the Spartans).
34 votes for Tasos Giannitsis
Tasos Giannitsis received 34 votes, supported by PASOK MPs as well as independents Petros Pappas, Rania Thraskia, and Buran Barkhan. The voting session saw a brief mix-up when Lesvos MP Panagiotis Paraskevaidis mistakenly announced “Anastasios Tasoulas” instead of “Anastasios Giannitsis,” but he quickly corrected himself.
40 votes for Katseli
SYRIZA and New Left MPs once again backed Louka Katseli, who received 40 votes, including support from Athina Linou, Yiannis Sarakiotis, and Areti Papaioannou. Katseli’s tally surpassed that of PASOK’s candidate.
14 votes for Kyriakou
Kostas Kyriakou, representing Northern Epirus and nominated by “Niki,” secured 14 votes. Alongside the 10 MPs from “Niki,” he was supported by independent MPs Floros, Dimitrokalis, Manousos, and Valtogiannis, all former members of the Spartans.
52 MPs voted “Present”
As in the first round, the second-most popular choice was “present,” declared by 52 MPs, including those from the Communist Party (KKE), Hellenic Solution, and Plefsi Eleftherias. Additionally, six independents aligned with Stefanos Kasselakis—Tzakris, Avlonitis, Christidou, Poulou, Malamas, and Hourdakis—also opted for “present.” Evangelos Apostolakis, an independent MP, did the same, as did Spartans MPs Aspiotis and Gavgiotakis, who were absent in the first round but participated this time.
Overall the only real changes was that two more MPs voted “present” who had been absent in the first round, and that Yiannis Sarakiotis joined the independents supporting Katseli in the second round.
Opposition targets Tasoulas, alleging Tempi cover-up
Opposition parties continue to target Konstantinos Tasoulas, the candidate nominated by New Democracy and former Speaker of Parliament.
Tasoulas has increasingly come under scrutiny following accusations from families of the victims of the Tempi train disaster, which are supported by the left, that he was involved in a cover-up regarding the cause of the disaster.
Pressure against him has mounted, particularly after Sunday’s massive demonstrations in Greece and several European countries, which aimed to keep the demands for the “truth” about the cause of the disaster and for what they see as delayed and inadequate delivery of justice for those involved.
The mounting opposition against New Democracy has been further fueled by the Prime Minister’s poorly received statements about the accident in a recent televised interview.
The Third Round of Voting
The third round of voting to elect the new Greek President is scheduled for February 6 at 10 a.m., where a candidate will need 180 votes to be elected. However, since no clear winner is expected in this round either, a fourth vote is anticipated on February 12, where only 151 votes are required for victory. At that stage, Konstantinos Tasoulas is expected to secure the presidency, as he appears to have the necessary support.