One of Greece's top judges has become the nation's first female president of the Council of State.
Top judge Katerina Sakellaropoulou, 64 years old, won with an overwhelming majority receiving 261 votes from the members of the parliament out of 300 seats.
Sakellaropoulou became the first woman president of the Council of State, the country's top administrative court in 2018. She chairs an environmental law society and is also known to advocate for refugee rights.
The new president's ability to unite opposing parties is seen as a turning point for Greece, which has suffered political and economic turmoil and instability since 2010.
While the ruling conservative New Democracy party elected Sakellaropoulou, she also received support from the primary opposition party Syriza, as well as the center-left Movement for Change.
Top judge Katerina #Sakellaropoulou elected first female president of #Greecehttps://t.co/zB8eeBwDun pic.twitter.com/Lwvj9rKU0P
— Hürriyet Daily News (@HDNER) January 22, 2020
Sakellaropoulou will succeed Prokopis Pavlopoulos after his five-year term expires in March 2020.
Some consider Sakellaropoulou's win to be a response to growing criticism about the lack of women in the current Greek government.
Compared to other countries in Europe, Greece is far behind regarding the number of women in senior political positions, reports CNN. Greece also scores below the European average in gender equality, while it ranked at the bottom of the gender equality index issued by the European Institute for Gender Equality in 2017.
As the country struggles to close its wage gap and decrease high domestic violence rates, it's putting hope in Sakellaropoulou to effect change.
According to research, when women are elected to office, they're more likely to support policies that enhance the quality of life for women, as well as ethnic and racial minorities.
I wish to congratulate Katerina Sakellaropoulou on her election as new president of #Greece
— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) January 22, 2020
A great signal to elect the Republic’s first female head of state.
I strongly believe that Greece will continue to contribute to the future development of the European Union. pic.twitter.com/HWtZm53zUj
COMMENTS