The new Greek government's candidate for President of the Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, former government minister for the centre right party New Democracy, was successfully elected Wednesday evening with 233 votes in total coming from MPs of the ruling coalition and New Democracy.

It was the previous government's failure to propose an agreeable Presidential candidate that triggered the snap elections that brought the present government into power, so by putting forward a unity candidate like Pavlopoulos, Tsipras can now focus his attention on the international negotiations over the Greek debt. Tsipras' choice however has stirred discontent among his own party, with several SYRIZA MPs voicing their opposition, as well as New Democracy's parliamentary representative, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who didn't attend the vote.

Meanwhile, another hurdle was passed Wednesday as  the European Central Bank Governing Council met and agreed to provide an additional €3.3 billion emergency funds to Greek banks, bringing the total funding available to €68.3bn. There have also been reports that the ECB would like Greece to impose capital controls, but the ECB has denied this.

Following the collapse of negotiations at Monday's Eurgroup meeting, the Eurozone had given Greece until Friday to request a loan extension, which Brussels has just confirmed receipt of this morning.

 


Eurozone finance ministers will now convene in an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the request.

Details are still emerging, but it seems unlikely that Greece will give in to the Eurogroup's demands that they accept the extension of the same programme of austerity and reform measures that the Eurozone says is an indivisible part of a bailout loan. 

As pressure on Athens rises, US Treasury secretary Jack Lew reportedly spoke to Varoufakis yesterday, urging him to  find a 'constructive' path, and warning that “failure to reach an agreement would lead to immediate hardship in Greece.”  Fitch ratings agency also published an article warning that 'brinkmaship' was risking Greece's sovereign credit profile, and putting the onus on Greece to compromise. In a statement to parliament, though, finance minister Varoufakis expressed his conviction that a deal will be reached on Friday that will satisfy both sides.

In what will be an important day for the Greek government, parliament is also due to vote on a series of social reforms on Friday, some of which will prove controversial in Brussels. Tsipras announced that the bills on the table will seek to tackle the “humanitarian crisis caused by the mistakes in the bailout recipe. This is the debt we must repay first. We will not betray the Greek people's confidence.”