Tsipras: Pavlopulos has proven democratic sensitivity

• 02.19.2015, 13:45
•  Europe,  World,  Info

The Parliament of Greece voted for the country’s new President on Wednesday. Former Internal Affairs Minister, conservative and pro-European Prokopis Pavlopulos received the majority of Parliament’s votes.  His candidacy was proposed by the ruling SYRIZA and "New Greeks" parties and was supported by the "New Democracy" party, which several times nominated him as a member of the Parliament.  As a result of Parliamentary voting Pavlopulos received 233 votes out of 300-seat chamber.

Although, the Greek President has mainly a symbolic role, in December 2014 the parliamentarians could not agree upon the President’s candidacy, and held early Parliamentary elections.

According to the Prime-minister Alexis Tsipras, Pavlopulos has "proven democratic sensitivity", "a high feeling of national conscience" and enjoys "broad approval in society and parliament".

65-year-old Prokopis Pavlopulos is a lawyer by profession. In 1977 he received a doctoral degree in Public Law.  He has been engaged in research activities for several years and is the author of series of books. In 1996 he was elected as a member of the Greek Parliament representing the "New Democracy" party and was reelected in 2000, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2012.

Pavlopulos was considered to be from the close circle of the former Prime-Minister Kostas Karamanlis. During the years, when Karamanlis was in power (2004-2009),  Pavlopulos was the Minister of Internal Affairs. He was in such close relations with Karamanlis that announced he would leave politics when the PM leaves his post. However, he did not keep his word and stayed in the Parliament until 2015, then became the President of Greece.