The Greek Parliament elected Constantine Tassoulas, the former Speaker of Parliament, as the new President of the country on Wednesday, receiving 160 votes.

Tassoulas, 65, succeeds Katerina Sakellaropoulou, who was the first woman to hold the presidency.

In his first statement, he described his election as “a great honor.”

However, his election sparked widespread controversy due to the failure to investigate the Larissa train disaster in 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 57 people and led to a wave of public outrage.