Athens, Dec 23 (IANS): The Greek Parliament failed to elect the country's president in a second roll-call vote Tuesday.
The result came as no surprise to political observers, who expect that the decisive round will be the third and final one scheduled for Monday.
Only 168 out of 299 lawmakers backed the government's candidate Stavros Dimas, a former EU commissioner for environment, in Tuesday's vote, Xinhua reported.
A presidential candidate must win a two-thirds majority, or 200 votes, in the first or second round. In a final vote, only 180 votes are needed.
In the first roll-call vote Wednesday, Dimas won 160 votes.
Under the country's constitution, should a candidate fail to garner enough votes in the final round, the parliament should be dissolved within 10 days and early general elections should be called within a month.