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SYRIZA’s parliamentary group meeting at which Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced the name of the candidate for President of Greece had taken place in a turbulent and tense atmosphere, as reported by the Greek media. It had ended with protests of MPs against the decision of the party leader, and especially against how it had been made, without taking into account their positions.

Almost all opposed Tsipras’ decision to nominate Prokopis Pavlopoulos and protested against the way of announcing the nomination. Some even proposed a voting to count the votes "for" and "against" the nomination in question.

"Mr. President, this is the last time that you do something like that. We cannot, and will not, allow you to do so once again," stated most MPs after the meeting.

According to the online edition of the newspaper To Vima, MP Rachel Makri had said, "Independent Greeks expelled me because I was saying that the party was a leading one. Now I see how decisions are made in SYRIZA "

Despite their protests during the meeting, however, the MPs from the ruling party dutifully supported the presidential candidate proposed by Alexis Tsipras. Only MP from the far left wing of SYRIZA Chrisoula Gaitani did not appear at all in the plenary hall during the vote, nor did she sent an explanatory letter for her absence, as is customary in such cases.

Three of her colleagues initially voted for Prokopis Pavlopoulos and then expressed their disagreement through letters that they have disseminated in the media.

MP from the region of Attica Eleni Sotiriou says that electing Prokopis Pavlopoulos president of Greece is not correct, because "the message of the elections on 25 January was a message of condemnation and rejection of the old political system and of punishment of the collapsing system of the memorandum. National and people’s unity is necessary, but only on the basis of a revival process, not within the context of an agreement with the political forces that have destroyed the country."

For his part, MP and economist Kostas Lapavitsas said, "To respond to the will of people, which was expressed in the elections on 25 January, the new president should express the turn to the left wing, rejection of the memoranda and the old status quo. Such a president could effectively support the government of SYRIZA and Independent Greeks in the titanic task to negotiate with the lenders and to recover the country. He could even be a new example of democracy and expand the great popular reception enjoyed by the new cabinet. Prokopis Pavlopoulos is an exceptional public figure with a democratic spirit, but he does not meet these criteria. But from the moment that his nomination was made public by the Prime Minister and leader of SYRIZA there was no ground for its challenge. The country is amid very critical negotiations and this requires a strong internal front."

The third MP, who voted for Pavlopoulos and subsequently expressed his disagreement, is Dimitris Kodelas, who stressed, "Nominating for president a member of the political staff that was ruling the country for years does not express the major change that our people want, despite his personal qualities."