President of Greece

The president of Greece, officially the president of the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Πρόεδρος της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, romanized: Próedros tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), commonly referred to in Greek as the president of the Republic (Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας, Próedros tis Dimokratías, ΠτΔ), is the head of state of Greece. The president is elected by the Hellenic Parliament; the role has been mainly ceremonial since the 1986 constitutional reform. The office was formally established by the Constitution of Greece in 1975, but has antecedents in the Second Hellenic Republic of 1924–1935 and the Greek junta in 1973–1974 which predated the transition to the current Third Hellenic Republic.

Powers

The president is the nominal commander-in-chief of the Greek Armed Forces and occupies the first place in the country's order of precedence. Although the Greek Constitution of 1974 vested the presidency with considerable powers on paper, in practice presidents took a largely ceremonial role; the prime minister of Greece is the active chief executive of the Greek government and the country's leading political figure. The president's role was formally brought into line with practice by the 1986 constitutional amendment, which reduced the official powers.

Election

According to Article 32 of the Greek Constitution, the president is elected for a five-year term by the Hellenic Parliament in a special session at least a month before the incumbent's term expires. Voting takes place in up to five ballots, separated by no more than five days.

The first and second ballots require a supermajority of 200 out of the 300-person body, dropping to 180 on the third. The fourth ballot requires a simple majority of 151 votes.