Konstantinos Tasoulas sworn in as Greece’s new president
Former Parliament speaker Konstantinos Tasoulas became the ninth president of the Hellenic Republic since the fall of the 1967-1974 dictatorship and the abolition of the monarchy, on Thursday.
After being sworn in by the archbishop of Athens in Parliament and laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the square in front of the House, Tasoulas will make the brief trip to the Presidential Mansion, where he takes over from Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
Tasoulas, 66, was elected to the largely ceremonial presidency with a majority of 160 votes in the 300-seat House on February 12, backed chiefly by members of his party, the governing center-right New Democracy.
Greece’s new president was born in the northwestern city of Ioannina in 1959 and studied law at Athens University. He was elected as an MP for New Democracy for the first time in 2000, and then again in 2004, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2023. He served as deputy defense minister in 2007-2009 and minister for culture and sports in 2014-2015, and became parliamentary speaker in 2019, holding the post until he was nominated for the presidency at the start of this year.
He was also mayor of the northern Athens suburb of Kifissia from 1995 to 1998.
Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony was not without some political drama, as two parties, Course of Freedom and Greek Solution, decided to abstain from proceedings in protest at Tasoulas’ nomination by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Kathimerini
