Greece's government has submitted an official request to the parliament that the Presidential election vote be set for December 17, according to an official announcement on Monday.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos have consulted with outgoing President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias for their decision to bring forward by two months the vote in the assembly, the government spokeswoman Sophia Voultepsi said in a written statement.
In addition, they requested from the parliament speaker Vangelis Meimarakis to speed up the process so that the first round be held on December 17, the statement concluded.
The announcement was made shortly after Eurogroup's decision to push for a two-month extension of the
Greek bailout to the end of February 2015 so that the fiscal adjustment program be completed.
Athens opens the procedure for the election of the new president in order to put an end to political uncertainty and strengthen the country's position in talks with international lenders over the final post-bailout agreement, the government's announcement explained.
Greece's government criticized main opposition Radical Left SYRIZA party of undermining the country's standing by calling on deputies to cast negative votes during the presidential election to force early general elections.
Under the Constitution, the President of Greece is elected by a majority of at least 180 votes in the 300-member strong assembly.
In case of failure after three rounds, the country heads to snap national elections so that the president be elected by the new parliament.
If the first round will be held on December 17, the second will be due on December 23 and the final on December 29, according to the government's time schedule.