ATHENS, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Greek parliament on Wednesday elected top judge Katerina Sakellaropoulou as president of the Hellenic Republic, Greece's first female head of state.
Since 2018 she has been serving as president of the Council of State, Greece's highest administrative court.
A total of 261 deputies voted in favor of Sakellaropoulou, who was the sole candidate, out of a total of 294 Members of Parliament (MPs) participating in the process, said Parliament President Constantine Tassoulas.
A minimum of 200 votes were required in the first round in order to elect a president, according to the Greek constitution.
Sakellaropoulou, nominated last week by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was supported by most MPs of the ruling conservative New Democracy party, as well as the main opposition Radical Left SYRIZA and the center-left Movement for Change.
Although the office of the president in Greece is ceremonial, the chosen person reflects the nation's unity, Mitsotakis noted while announcing Sakellaropoulou's candidacy last week.
"This is a great day for the Hellenic Republic ... The result demonstrates that in significant issues we can reach consensus. Greece is entering a new era," the Greek prime minister said after the end of the voting procedure, according to an e-mailed press statement released from his office.
Sakellaropoulou, 63, who was also the first female head of the Council of State, succeeds Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who assumed office in March 2015.
She is the 8th president of the Hellenic Republic since 1974, when democracy was restored after a military dictatorship, according to the Greek Presidency's website.
Later Wednesday Tassoulas will formally inform Sakellaropoulou on her election.
On March 13, she will take an oath before the assembly and assume duties, according to an e-mailed press release from the office of the parliament's president.
Pavlopoulos contacted his successor and congratulated her in a phone call, wishing her the best of success, read an e-mailed press announcement issued by the presidency.
According to the Greek constitution, the Greek president is elected for a term of five years and can be re-elected only once.
