The first round of voting in the Greek parliament for the election of the next Greek president will take place on Wednesday, December 17, it was announced on Wednesday by the Speaker's office.

The Greek parliament's Presidium, chaired by Speaker Evangelos Meimarakis which consists of representatives of the four biggest parties in parliament, decided that the process will start at 19:00 pm (1700GMT) local time.

Under the Constitution and the parliament's voting rules, in case a candidate will not secure 200 votes in the 300- seat plenum in the first round, a second round is expected to follow five days later and the final one on December 29.

The conservative- led two- partite coalition named on Tuesday former EU Commissioner of Environment Stavros Dimas as its presidential candidate.

The ruling coalition holds 155 seats in the assembly, therefore Dimas needs the support of 25 opposition MPs to secure the required minimum 180 seat majority in the third round.

If he fails, according to Constitution, the parliament is dissolved and general elections are held after a month.