ATHENS, Jan 26 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- The Greek parliament on Saturday failed to elect the country's next president, reported Xinhua.
None of the four candidates secured the required minimum of 200 votes out of the total 300 members of the assembly in the first round. 297 members participated in the voting.
Constantine Tassoulas, former parliament speaker and nominee of the ruling New Democracy party, received the most with 160 votes. The other three candidates each secured less than 50 votes.
A second round is scheduled for January 31, with the threshold also being 200 votes, according to the Greek constitution.
If no candidate achieves the required votes in the second round, the threshold will drop to 180 votes in the third round, and to a simple majority of 151 votes in the fourth round. In the final round, the president will be elected with a relative majority.
The term of outgoing President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, former head of Greece's highest administrative court, expires in March.
According to the constitution, the country's president is elected for a five-year term and can be re-elected only once.
-- BERNAMA-XINHUA
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