Samaras aims for Greece’s snap polls to be held on January 25
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said that he will ask for snap elections to be held on January 25 after Parliament failed to elect a new president on Monday.
Speaking moments after government candidate Stavros Dimas gathered 168 votes in the third and final vote, when a minimum of 180 was needed, Samaras said he would meet President Karolos Papoulias on Tuesday and asked for Parliament to be dissolved.
The two possible dates for snap elections were January 25 or February 1 but Samaras said that he would ask for polls to be held on the earlier date.
“We did all we could to elect a president and avoid snap elections that the vast majority of Greeks don’t want,” he said in a brief address.
“Unfortunately, a minority of 132 MPs, which included those from SYRIZA and Golden Dawn, are hauling Greece to snap elections.”
