Summary The candidacy of Prokopis Pavlopoulos, a 64-year-old law professor, must be approved by Parliament
ATHENS, Greece: (AP) - A conservative former interior minister, on whose watch authorities failed to contain Greece s worst riots in decades, was named Tuesday as the government-backed candidate for the ceremonial position of Greek president.
The candidacy of Prokopis Pavlopoulos, a 64-year-old law professor, must be approved by Parliament, in a special process that can take up to three votes.
But he is expected to be easily elected in the first ballot Wednesday, as the main opposition conservatives his own party said they would back his nomination by the new radical left-led government.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he picked Pavlopoulos instead of a left-wing candidate because of his "proven democratic sensitivities" and broad cross-party appeal.
Tsipras came to power on Jan. 25, in early elections he forced by refusing to back the previous, conservative government s presidential candidate. Current President Karolos Papoulias second five-year term in office expires next month.
Pavlopoulos was responsible for public order in December 2008, when the fatal police shooting of a teenager sparked weeks of rioting in Athens and other cities, and was broadly criticized for failing to quickly restore order.
The rioting soon escalated out of control, resulting in extensive destruction and looting of private and public property in the capital s center.
