President of Greece

The president is the nominal commander-in-chief of the Greek Armed Forces and occupies the first place in the country's order of precedence. Although the Greek Constitution of 1974 vested the presidency with considerable powers on paper, in practice presidents took a largely ceremonial role; the prime minister of Greece is the active chief executive of the Greek government and the country's leading political figure. The president's role was formally brought into line with practice by the 1986 constitutional amendment, which reduced the official powers.

According to Article 32 the Greek Constitution, the president is elected for a five-year term by the Hellenic Parliament in a special session at least a month before the incumbent's term expires. Voting takes place in two phases, each maximally of three ballots, separated by no more than five days.[3]

The first and second ballots require a supermajority of 200 out of the 300-person body, dropping to 180 on the third. The fourth ballot requires a simple majority of 151 votes. The fifth and last ballot is then contested between the two candidates with the most votes and decided by a relative majority.[3]

Before taking office, the president must recite an oath in front of the Parliament according to the Article 33, paragraph 2 of the Greek Constitution:

"I swear in the name of the Holy, Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity to safeguard the Constitution and the laws, to ensure their faithful observance, to defend the national independence and territorial integrity of the Country, to protect the rights and liberties of the Greeks and to serve the general interest and the progress of the Greek People."[3]

The presidential Mansion in Athens

The official residence of the president of Greece is the Presidential Mansion, formerly the New Royal Palace, in central Athens.

The current Third Hellenic Republic (Greek: Γʹ Ελληνική Δημοκρατία) was established in 1974 during the period of metapolitefsi, after the end of the Greek military junta which had controlled Greece since the coup d'état of 21 April 1967.

On 1 June 1973 the then leader of the military junta and regent for the exiled King Constantine II, Georgios Papadopoulos, abolished the Greek monarchy and proclaimed himself President of the Republic. A staged referendum on 29 July 1973 confirmed the regime change, and passed a new constitution which established a presidential republic. This attempt at controlled democratization was ended by Brigadier Dimitrios Ioannidis' overthrow of Papadopoulos on 25 November 1973. The republic and its institutions were formally maintained, but was nothing more than a façade for the military regime. Lt. General Phaedon Gizikis was appointed President of the Republic, but power was in the hands of Ioannidis, who ruled behind the scenes.

After the fall of the junta and the return to civilian rule under Konstantinos Karamanlis in August 1974, the legal and constitutional acts of the military regime were deemed invalid, and a new referendum was held on 8 December 1974, which confirmed the abolition of the monarchy. In the interim, Gizikis, remained in office as President. After the plebiscite, he was succeeded by the first elected president, Michail Stasinopoulos.

A new constitution, promulgated on 11 June 1975, declared Greece a presidential parliamentary democracy (or republic – the Greek δημοκρατία can be translated both ways). This constitution, revised in 1985, 2001, 2008 and 2019, is still in force today.

List of presidents of the Third Republic

Further information: List of heads of state of Greece

President			Term of office				Political party
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Elected	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Michail Stasinopoulos Μιχαήλ Στασινόπουλος (1903–2002)	1974	18 December 1974	19 July 1975	213 days	New Democracy
2		Konstantinos Tsatsos Κωνσταντίνος Τσάτσος (1899–1987)	1975	19 July 1975	10 May 1980	4 years, 296 days	New Democracy
3		Konstantinos Karamanlis Κωνσταντίνος Καραμανλής (1907–1998)	1980	10 May 1980	10 March 1985 (Resigned)	4 years, 304 days	New Democracy
—		Ioannis Alevras Ιωάννης Αλευράς (1912–1995)	—	10 March 1985	30 March 1985	20 days	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
4		Christos Sartzetakis Χρήστος Σαρτζετάκης (born 1929)	1985	30 March 1985	4 May 1990	5 years, 35 days	Independent
(3)		Konstantinos Karamanlis Κωνσταντίνος Καραμανλής (1907–1998)	1990	5 May 1990	10 March 1995	4 years, 310 days	New Democracy
5		Konstantinos Stephanopoulos Κωνσταντίνος Στεφανόπουλος (1926–2016)	1995 2000	10 March 1995	12 March 2005	10 years, 2 days	Independent
6		Karolos Papoulias Κάρολος Παπούλιας (born 1929)	2005 2010	12 March 2005	13 March 2015	10 years, 1 day	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
7		Prokopis Pavlopoulos Προκόπης Παυλόπουλος (born 1950)	2014–15	13 March 2015	13 March 2020	5 years	New Democracy
8		Katerina Sakellaropoulou Κατερίνα Σακελλαροπούλου (born 1956)	2020	14 March 2020	Incumbent	326 days	Independent

There are three living former Greek presidents:

• 
  Christos Sartzetakis
  (1985–1990)
  (1929-04-06) 6 April 1929
• 
  Karolos Papoulias
  (2005–2015)
  (1929-06-04) 4 June 1929
• 
  Prokopis Pavlopoulos
  (2015–2020)
  (1950-07-10) 10 July 1950

The most recent death of a former president of Greece is that of Konstantinos Stephanopoulos (1995–2005) on 20 November 2016.

• List of heads of state of Greece
• List of presidents of Greece by longevity