Papandreou Loses Parliament Test : Choice for President of Greece Defeated on First Ballot

Socialist Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou suffered a defeat Sunday in the first parliamentary balloting for a new Greek president to replace Constantine Karamanlis, who was dumped in a surprise turnabout by Papandreou a week ago.

Some members of Parliament and political commentators said that Sunday’s balloting, which fell narrowly short of the mercurial Papandreou’s expectations, may portend a formal parliamentary rebuff of Supreme Court Judge Christos Sartzetakis, the Socialist prime minister’s choice to succeed the conservative Karamanlis.

Karamanlis is widely admired among Greeks for bringing the country back to democracy after the fall of the military dictatorship in 1974 and for applying what many believe to have been the only moderating force that kept Papandreou from carrying out some of his more radical 1981 election campaign promises. These included vows to lead Greece out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Economic Community and to get rid of American military bases here.

The acting Speaker of Parliament, Michael Stephanides, announced after the secret ballot that Sartzetakis received 178 votes in the first of three possible attempts at election between Sunday and March 29. Papandreou’s candidate needed at least 200 votes, or a two-thirds majority of the 300 deputies in Parliament, to win Sunday’s election. He will need the same two-thirds majority in a second ballot to be held Saturday.

Although Papandreou and his ruling Pan-Helenic Socialist Party (PASOK) did not expect a victory on either of the first two ballots, they have forecast a comfortable margin on the final vote, March 29, when only a five-eighths majority of 180 votes will be required to elect a president.

Sunday’s vote, which fell two short of what Papandreou eventually must muster, raised doubts that he will succeed in the final ballot in placing his unexpected, hand-picked choice in the presidential palace.

Dionyssis Bouloukos, a one-time Papandreou loyalist who was expelled from the Socialist party and now opposes the prime minister, said that at least one of the party’s deputies defected in Sunday’s secret balloting. “I could name six more who have told me they will also defect in the final voting,” he said.

‘Narrow’ Outcome

The leader of the conservative opposition New Democracy Party, Constantine Mitsotakis, also appeared to be buoyed by the results of Sunday’s balloting, although he was more cautious than Bouloukos in predicting the final outcome, which he said would be “narrow.”

Technically, Papandreou could have mustered the magic 180 with the votes of two absent Socialist deputies, Carolos Papoulias, who as alternate foreign minister was out of the country, and the Speaker of the Parliament, Yannis Alevras, who stepped up to the constitutional role of acting president upon Karamanlis’ abrupt departure from office a week ago.

However, Alevras’ new status as acting chief of state has raised a constitutional question about whether he is eligible any longer to vote in Parliament. Apparently awaiting the ruling of a special constitutional commission, Alevras did not attend Sunday’s balloting, avoiding the question.

The Socialists have 165 seats in Parliament and the Communist Party 13. Three independents have announced they will vote for Sartzetakis.

If the Sartzetakis candidacy fails on the third ballot, Parliament must immediately disband, with new general elections to be held within a little over a month, as early as May 5.

By sacking Karamanlis, whom he had at first promised to back for reelection, Papandreou strengthened his support from the left, including the Communists who have opposed him in the past.

At the time he dumped Karamanlis, Papandreou created another election issue by announcing his intention to seek constitutional amendments sharply limiting the powers of the presidency.

Among his proposed changes was one that would open the constitution to any amendment he might seek by a simple majority vote in Parliament. Alarmed critics predicted that if such a change were made, the Socialist prime minister might amend the constitution out of existence.

Responding to the criticism, Papandreou backed down on the proposed change Friday. However, government spokesman Dimitri Maroudas said that the government will press ahead with plans to cut presidential powers, including the right to veto legislation, to call referendums, to dissolve Parliament and to declare war.