Why was Greece's parliament dissolved in December 2014?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Greece's parliament was dissolved on December 30, 2014, because Prime Minister Antonis Samaras failed to secure the necessary parliamentary majority to elect his candidate, Stavros Dimas, as the new president of Greece.12

Under the Greek constitution, the failure to elect a president in three consecutive parliamentary votes necessitated the dissolution of parliament and the calling of snap elections. These elections, held on January 25, 2015, resulted in a victory for the anti-austerity party Syriza, leading to Alexis Tsipras becoming prime minister.132