Prior to his address to the Greek people, in which he highlighted the urgency of the elections and gave a brief account of his government's work, Loukas Papademos had visited the President of the Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias, and formally asked the dissolution of Parliament and the announcement of elections.
After the meeting, the President of the Republic proceeded with the issuance of the envisaged Presidential Decree for the dissolution of the Parliament. The guard of the Parliament received the relevant document and sealed it outside the gate of the building.
The document states that having in mind the provisions of article 41 paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Constitution, and the proposal of the government, approved by the Council of Ministers for the renewal of the popular mandate, "we dissolve the Parliament of the 6th term of the Presidency and we call the voters for the election of deputies on the 2012th of May 17 and we convene the Parliament that will emerge from the elections on the 2012th of May 11.00, Thursday at XNUMX am ".
On Tuesday after Easter, Interior Minister Tassos Giannitsis will convene the Inter-Party Committee on the terms of the elections. Nominations from all parties are expected to be submitted on April 20, and the combinations that will run in the elections will be announced on April 25.
Earlier in his speech at the Council of Ministers, Lucas Papademos said he would propose to the President of the Republic the announcement of elections on May XNUMX, stressing that important decisions need to be taken immediately to complete and consolidate the effort to restructure the economy.
"Today, the pre-election period officially begins. Most of you will be running for office. Therefore, you will have to fulfill two difficult goals: To fulfill your duties as members of the government and at the same time to take care of your election campaign as a candidate for MPs. Simultaneous implementation of the two goals is difficult, I understand. "The second goal, however, must not be achieved at the expense of the first," the Prime Minister stressed.