In a majority vote, the parliament of Greece yesterday elected judge Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou (63) as president of the republic to become the first woman in the history of the nation to assume this honorary post. A majority of 261 lawmakers in the 300-member parliament voted in favor of Sakellaropoulou, formerly the head of the Council of State, after being named by prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (https://bit.ly/3aDAKJg). Recalling, that the conservative PM presented Sakellaropoulou as the candidate for unity and progress. He chose her because she is far from the traditional partisan divisions in this Mediterranean country. Following her nomination on January 15, Sakellaropoulou, who is not affiliated with any political party, won a wide consensus. Mitsotakis said at the time, “It is time for Greece to open up to the future,” adding, the Greek society still sustains discrimination against women. “But this will have to change top-down from now on,” he said. (Al Akhbar, January 23, 2020)