ISSN: 2560-1601

Vol. 27, No. 1 (GR)

March 2020

Greece political briefing: The New Greek President George N. Tzogopoulos

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Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01

The New Greek President

The first female President of undertook its duties in a very difficult period for the Greek economy and society, in March 2020. , the former President of the Council of State, was the personal choice of Prime Minister to succeed . Pavlopoulos played a constructive role in the summer of 2015, when Greece’s stay in the Eurozone was jeopardized, but is considered a politician with close ties to by most New members, even the ’ wing which largely supports him. Mitsotakis nominated a woman to become the President to make a symbolic gesture in line with European guidelines and send a message of unity to Greek citizens. Chinese President Xi Jinping immediately congratulated Sakellaropoulou after her election.

The new , Katerina Sakellaropoulou was sworn in on 13 March 2020. As in mid-March the government ordered a lockdown to fight against COVID-19, the ceremony was only attended by a small number of people. In particular, instead of 1000 people who would have been able to participate under normal circumstances, 150 people were present in the plenary. Political parties, for example, were represented by the heads of their parliamentary group. That is because the Parliament applies measures similar to those adopted by the aiming at limiting the duration of both committee and plenary sessions. Sakellaropoulou was welcomed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Parliament President . In her brief comment, she expressed her hope that the election of the country’s first female president would improve the position of women in the family and society.

While the Greek President lacks powers according to the Constitution, the electoral process tends to be highly politicized. That is because if the Parliament fails to elect the nominated President every five years, then a is caused. In the summer of 2009, for example, the then leader of the main opposition PA.SO.K party said that his party would not support for President in order to put pressure on Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis to call an early election. This is what happened in September 2009 indeed. Without this pressure by Papandreou the election would have taken place at a later

1 stage, possibly in the 2010 spring. PA.SO.K won the election but ironically voted in favor of Papoulias renewing his term.

Additionally, in December 2014, , who was then the leader of the main opposition SYRIZA party enjoying the lead in all opinion polls, did not support the nomination of Prime Minister for to succeed Papoulias. By contrast, he provoked an early election with his intransigence. He explained his stance to Greek people by considering the departure of the governing from power a pre-requisite for Greece to allegedly escape from unnecessary bailouts. It was the period during which SYRIZA was cultivating illusions that the cancellation of the memoranda of understanding with Greece’s creditors were arguably a matter of political boldness Samaras did not possess. After serving his political goal and winning the January 2015 election, Tsipras nominated Prokopis Pavlopoulos to succeed Papoulias. The latter has already completed two presidential terms.

For Mitsotakis, the political decision to nominate Greece’s new President was relatively easy. He had already won the national election of July 2019 and his authority could not be challenged. As it is traditionally the case in domestic politics, several names were discussed in the public and media discourse. But from the very first beginning Mitsotakis had not appeared particularly keen on proposing Prokopis Pavlopoulos to continue with a second term a Greece’s President. Whereas Pavlopoulos remains a figure endorsed by conservative MPs who belong to the so-called Karamanlis’ wing, he is also regarded a politician who maintains close relations with Tsipras and SYRIZA. Pavlopoulos certainly played an important role in the summer of 2015 in keeping Greece in the Eurozone but his proximity with the leftist party was not particularly appreciated within New Democracy circles. Having said this Mitsotakis decided to seriously look for alternatives.

The political priorities of Mitsotakis were twofold. On the one hand, he sought to nominate a candidate who could be accepted by most MPs and avoid politicization. On these grounds, he could send a message of unity to Greek citizens in good times for the Greek economy. The coronavirus issue had not been on the agenda in January 2020 when the Premier made his decision. And on the other hand, he positively eyed the possibility of proposing a woman to success Pavlopoulos. Taking into account that most members in the cabinet of the Greek government are men, Mitsotakis sought to respond to criticism and follow the European gender balance guidelines. The new President of the European Commission, for example, Ursula von der Leyen is also a woman. It would have been very difficult for the Prime Minister’s political opponents to challenge a similar choice for the Greek presidency.

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After considering several candidates, Mitsotakis decided on 15 January 2020 to nominate Council of State president Katerina Sakellaropoulou. Skellaropoulou was born in in 1956 and graduated from the Faculty of Law of the National and Kapodistrian University of in 1978. In 1982 she was appointed as Assistant Judge at Council of State and took several positions in the next decades. She was promoted to President of the Court in 2018. In her first comments after the nomination Sakellarapoulou said the proposal honored in her both justice and women and accepted it with responsibility. The main opposition SYRIZA party reacted positively to the nomination vindicating the choice of Mitsotakis. As Tsipras said his party’s positive vote would not be a public relations stunt stunt but a conscious choice reflecting its responsible stance towards the institutions as well as its values. Leader of the Movement of Change Fofi Gennimata also endorsed the proposal.

Sakellaropoulou secured an overwhelming majority in a vote in Parliament on 22 January. 261 out of 294 MPs present voted in favor of her. Following the voting procedure, she promised to fulfill her constitutional role with all her powers. In his immediate statement Mitsotakis illustrated the day as ‘beautiful’ for Greece and believed that the country would enter a new era with its first female President, in his opinion, ‘an important legal figure, a great judge, a personality that unites all ’. Furthermore, he promised to include more women in the first reshuffle of the government. As far as Greek public opinion is concerned, a Pulse polls demonstrates that six in ten respondents held a positive view about the Sakellaropoulou.

At the time of writing, the new Greek President has only made a few public appearances after the ceremony when she was sworn in because of the ongoing fight against COVID-19. With reference to the difficult task to place the virus under control she has urged citizens to fully comply with instructions issued by health authorities to prevent its further spread. She subsequently underlined that the only way for Greek citizens to protect their loved ones was to away from them. In addition, she has commented on Greek-Turkish relations which are strained because of tensions across the border. In her view, Greece must safeguard its borders while fulfilling its humanitarian duty to people who are suffering. And in her first visit in the Ministry of Defense Sakellaropoulou she emphasized on the crucial role of armed forces in protecting Greece’s territorial integrity and referred directly to as a country that exploited the pain and misery of desperate refugees in an unprecedented way.

President Xi Jinping has been among the world leaders who have congratulated Sakellaropoulou. In his message, the Chinese leader said that he was satisfied with the fruitful results China and Greece have produced in jointly constructing the Belt and Road Initiative, attached great importance to the development of the bilateral relations and expressed his hope

3 for an all-round collaboration between the two countries. President Xi has maintained excellent relations with Sakellaropoulou’s predecessor, Prokopis Pavlopoulos. The former Greek President had attended the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations that took place in May 2019 in Beijing. In his address, he spoke on the need of cooperation among different civilizations. He also hosted Xi Jinping in Athens in November 2019, in the first visit of a Chinese President in Greece after eleven years. Other world leaders who have congratulated Sakellaropoulou include US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart .

Conclusion

For Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis the nomination of the new President of Greece was an easy choice. As his personal damage and that of the governing New Democracy could not have started only a few months after the national election of July 2019, his decision would hardly provoke a political crisis. Mitsotakis acted carefully in order to avoid tensions and proposed former President of the Council of State Katerina Sakellaropoulou to succeed Prokopis Pavlopoulos. President Xi Jinping has been among the world leaders who immediately congratulated Sakellaropoulou. Sino-Greek relation can certainly flourish under her term as it happened during the years of Pavlopoulos.

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