Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras nominated a conservative lawmaker and former interior minister on Tuesday to be the country's next President.
Tsipras told lawmakers from his radical left-wing Syriza party that he had chosen Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who served from 2004 to 2009 in a conservative New Democracy government, as he wanted a unity candidate who was acceptable to all sides in Greek politics.
Pavlopoulos, 64, is almost certain to secure election by parliament in a process that starts on Wednesday due to his broad appeal. He has the support of Syriza and its coalition partner, the right-wing Independent Greeks while New Democracy, which is now the main opposition party, also said it would vote for him.
This contrasts to the last presidential election late last year, when a candidate nominated by former New Democracy prime minister Antonis Samaras failed to win enough support.
Tsipras told lawmakers from his radical left-wing Syriza party that he had chosen Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who served from 2004 to 2009 in a conservative New Democracy government, as he wanted a unity candidate who was acceptable to all sides in Greek politics.
Pavlopoulos, 64, is almost certain to secure election by parliament in a process that starts on Wednesday due to his broad appeal. He has the support of Syriza and its coalition partner, the right-wing Independent Greeks while New Democracy, which is now the main opposition party, also said it would vote for him.
This contrasts to the last presidential election late last year, when a candidate nominated by former New Democracy prime minister Antonis Samaras failed to win enough support.