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1st LD Writethru: Greek Supreme Court chief to be sworn in as caretaker PM

Xinhua, August 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

The President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos appointed on Thursday the country's Supreme Court President Vassiliki Thanou as caretaker Prime Minister to lead the country to early general elections, according to an official announcement issued by the president's office.

The 65-year old judge will be sworn in on Thursday evening and the ministers of the interim government on Friday, according to the statement.

Also on Friday the President was expected to set the date of the ballots, with most likely Sept. 20, and the parliament be formally dissolved.

Thanou will become the first female Prime Minister in Greece' history.

Following the resignation of the outgoing Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the failure of political party leaders to form a new government from the current parliament, under the Greek Constitution the President names the Supreme Court chief as transitional Prime Minister.

Tsipras and his government stepped down last Thursday forcing the elections just eight months after the Jan. 25 national polls that brought the Radical Left SYRIZA party in power.

In a TV interview on Wednesday night Tsipras repeated that he felt it was his moral duty to request a fresh mandate from the Greek electorate to continue after the recent signing of the third bailout deal with Greece' lenders since 2010. Endit