Vice-President and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos talked to Reuters and mentioned that the coalition government might not propose a political figure for President of the Hellenic Republic in order to achieve “consensus and avoid early elections that could derail its economic progress,”.

Although the role of the Greek President is mainly ceremonial, Reuters reports, possible failure of the parliament to elect one might lead to early national elections, with “no likely outright winner, plunging Greece into a political crisis a few years after narrowly avoiding default”.

Mr. Venizelos said “The list for President is very limited,” but did not disclose any names. He just said that “We have some scenarios in mind, but we are absolutely open and other,”.

As Reuters mentions, since the coalition government has 154 out of the 300 MPs, it would need to find 26 more MPs so as to come up with the 180 votes needed to elect a President.

“I’m optimistic because public opinion … is against the idea of premature elections. The large majority of public opinion understands very well the need to protect the political, governmental stability,” Mr. Venizelos said.

Referring to the recent opinion poll results he said “It is not possible to form a single-party government. It is crucial to prepare a partnership” and concluded by saying “The nationally right option is to protect the stability and to elect the new president as a result of a consensual process,”.