While the Greek presidency is a largely ceremonial role, opposition parties say the nomination of a political conservative represents a missed opportunity to build consensus.
ADVERTISEMENTGreece’s conservative government has nominated Constantine Tasoulas, the speaker of the Greek parliament, to become the country’s next president.
The 65-year-old lawyer and member of the governing centre-right New Democracy party served as culture minister between 2014 and 2015.
The country’s current president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou — who is the first woman to serve as head of the Greek state — was not nominated for a second term.
Greek presidents hold a largely ceremonial role, to which they are elected for five-year terms by the country’s 300 lawmakers, who vote in a process lasting up to five rounds.
Opposition parties criticised the nomination of the relatively conservative Tasoulas, saying the choice represents a missed opportunity to build consensus.
The ruling New Democracy party currently enjoys a slim parliamentary majority with 156 seats, while the centre-left PASOK holds 31 seats and the left-wing SYRIZA 26, making this the most right-wing Greek parliament since 1974.
According to a report published by the Varieties of Democracy Institute in 2024, Greece is becoming increasingly autocratic, and even experiencing a «democratic decline.»
During his tenure as culture minister, Tasoulas pushed for London’s British Museum to return the disputed Parthenon friezes to Athens. The campaign gained the support of human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, who went on to raise international awareness about the campaign.
The sculptures in question were removed from the Acropolis in Athens by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 1800s.
The Greek government contends that their removal was illegal, and seeks to reunite them with other Parthenon artefacts displayed in a museum in the Greek capital.
