The Greek government on Sunday evening postponed its announcement of the candidate it will nominate for Greece’s new president of the republic, a wholly ceremonial post that acquires importance only in case no president can be elected — whereby triggering snap elections.

Under Greece’s prime ministerial-dominated government, a president is elected by a majority of Parliament MPs.

Public broadcaster NERIT carried the news.

For several weeks now, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, former Athens mayor and high-ranking conservative minister, has been widely expected to be the radical leftist government’s choice to replace the outgoing President.

However, the presence of a hardline leftist minister at the Maximos Mansion government house on Sunday evening could indicate a change of heart on behalf of the government.

Lafazanis, who is minister of productive Reconstruction, environment and energy, and heads SYRIZA’s unofficial but staunchly anti-capitalist left platform, is reportedly opposed to Avramopoulos.

Government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis said SYRIZA’s Parliamentary group will convene on Tuesday morning – after the Eurogroup meeting on Monday – to decide on the government’ candidate, so that the election could be held on Wednesday in parliament.

Another potential “thorn” in the Avramopoulos candidate is dissatisfaction within his own party, New Democracy, over the prospect of losing an important EU Commission portfolio — which SYRIZA would then fill — so one of its cadres transfers to the figurehead office at the presidential mansion.

Failure to elect a president in late December 2014 with a 180 MP majority caused snap elections.