Greece Parliament To Vote Monday In Final Presidential Ballot

Greece's Parliament will vote Monday in the final round of Presidential elections that will either select a new head of the Republic or trigger snap national elections.

The third and final ballot, which takes place at 10:00 GMT, requires a threshold of at least 180 votes in the 300-seat chamber to elect Presidential nominee Stavros Dimas. If lawmakers reject the 73-year-old former European Commissioner, parliament will be dissolved and national elections must be called within 40 days.

Dimas has received no more than 168 'yes' votes in either of the first two ballots.

The coalition government of conservative New Democracy party leader Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and socialist Pasok party leader Vice President and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos hold 155 parliamentary seats.

The coalition has been lobbying to get the majority of the 24 votes of independent lawmakers as well as MPs of smaller parties that might divert from the official party line at the last minute and elect Dimas.

Samaras has even made concessions that he would call early elections at the end of 2015, make constitutional changes and include independent lawmakers in the governmental cabinet if they voted for Dimas.

But his concessions managed to get only 8 further votes from the first to the second ballot.

In a last attempt to attract the remaining 12 votes needed to elect the new President, Samaras pleaded on public TV that the country would be put in danger if elections are called now.

Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis has also argued that the country's liquidity could be blocked by the European Central Bank in "a split of a second."

Speaking with Greece's 'To Vima' newspaper Sunday, Hardouvelis said that the government was "preparing to face any possible turmoil."

"We have already passed laws to secure deposits, we are in constant communication with our partners, we will be on alert," he said.

Asked what will happen if the government changes after elections, Hardouvelis said that "the ECB holds the key to avoid (Greece's) economic turbulence in 2015."

"This key can easily and abruptly turn off bank funding and strangle the Greek economy in the split of a second," he added.

Despite Samaras and Hardouvelis's warnings, it seems unlikely that the coalition can find the 12 remaining votes to elect Dimas, as the smaller parties seem to hold firm on their position to vote against the governmental nominee.

The European Union has given Greece a two month extension in its current funding programme that was scheduled to finish at the end of December 2014.

Within these two months, the EU has warned Greece that it must conclude its fifth assessment economic review that has been pending since September and negotiate its post-bail out safety credit line with the European Stability Mechanism.

In order to get the two month funding extension, the current Greek government has committed in writing to pursue further reforms in the labour and insurance sectors that might bring further cuts in wages and pensions, define new measures to cover the 2015 fiscal gap, change the foreclosure/bankruptcy law and speed up privatizations.

Main opposition party leader, Alexis Tsipras, said he will not implement such measures. His Syriza party is currently leading the polls. although the gap has narrowed.

In a poll published in 'To Vima' Sunday, Syriza is leading with 27.4% support, against 25.7% for New Democracy party.

In another poll published Sunday by the 'Proto Thema' newspaper, Syriza recorded 28.3% support against New Democracy's 25%.

Following the parliamentary vote, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will chair a cabinet meeting at 12:00 GMT where he will announce a national election if Dimas is rejected in the third ballot.

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