Rounds one and two of Greek presidential elections ended in failure. Recall that it takes a super-majority of 60% of parliament (200 votes), to elect a president, in the first two attempts. The third an final chance takes 180 votes.
Even though this is a ceremonial position, should parliament fail to elect a president in three rounds, parliament dissolves and new national elections for prime minister and parliament take place.
That has the nannycrats in Europe concerned. Alexis Tsipras, leader of opposition party Syriza, has vowed he will demand a sizeable write-off of Greece's sovereign debt if elected. Syriza is in the lead so fearmongering by the EU has been extreme.
The Financial Times reports Greek Parliament Fails to Elect President in Second-Round Vote.
Stavros Dimas, the governing coalition's candidate, won 168 votes, eight more than in last week's first-round ballot, following a last-ditch appeal for consensus by Antonis Samaras, the prime minister.
But the former European environment commissioner now appears unlikely to capture the 180 votes needed in the third and final ballot on December 29.
The additional support for Mr Dimas came only from independent MPs, while the moderate Democratic Left and rightwing Independent Greeks resisted the appeal for consensus to complete talks on leaving Greece's four-year bailout and securing a new credit line from international borrowers.
The coalition government's chances of staying in power depend on persuading MPs from the Democratic Left and Independent Greeks to switch sides in the final ballot.
Fotis Kouvelis, the Democratic Left leader, and a potential presidential candidate under a Syriza-led government, has told senior party members he is about to announce an electoral alliance with Syriza — a move that prompted one of his 10 MPs to leave the party on Tuesday.
“It's time for the country to turn a page. Society wants this to happen, we need a change in Greece,” Mr Kouvelis said after Tuesday's vote.
Mr Samaras on Sunday offered to bring forward a general election to late 2015 and open up his coalition government to smaller parties as a way of persuading recalcitrant MPs to back Mr Dimas for the presidency.
In an unscheduled television address on Sunday, Mr Samaras called for a “consensus” vote for Mr Dimas, urging MPs to “listen to the voice of conscience, national interest and common sense”.
Some analysts have argued the prime minister would have needed to notch up at least 170 votes in Tuesday's second-round vote to give him a reasonable chance of winning the final ballot on Monday.
