Greek MPs failed to elect a president in a second vote in parliament, bringing an early general election, feared by financial markets and the country's EU-IMF creditors, a step closer.
The government candidate, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, fell 32 votes short of the required 200 votes, meaning a third and final vote will be held on December 29.
"The required majority has not been met, therefore the vote will be repeated for a third time," parliament speaker Evangelos Meimarakis told the chamber. Failure to elect a president in the third vote will automatically spark early elections in Greece, the second in less than two years, a prospect that could reverse fiscal reforms. The Greek stock exchange opened with a drop , losing over 2.0 percent at the time of the vote. In a bid to sway independent MPs, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Sunday offered to hold early elections in late 2015, provided that a president is elected and that tough talks with the country's EU-IMF creditors are concluded first. European Union and International Monetary Fund officials fear an early election -- which could be held as soon as January 25 -- would be won by radical leftist party Syriza and would undo Greece's ongoing fiscal reforms. The presidential vote has been tainted by allegations from a small nationalist party that people close to the government were trying to bribe its lawmakers into voting for Dimas. )AFP)
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