Parliament speaker objects to government formation process

Ben Bassey 13:48 - 21 August 2015

Greek parliament speaker objects to government formation process

<strong>Greece</strong>'s parliament speaker objected on Friday to the procedure followed by the country's president in handing out a mandate to the opposition to form a government, saying it was handled with an "unconstitutional rush".

A statement from Zoe Konstantopoulou's office said Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos had clearly sidestepped her constitutional responsibility to verify each parliamentary party's standing before assigning mandates.

The statement was the latest twist complicating Greece's political scene after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned to pave the way for early elections, though Konstantopoulou is not expected to be able to derail the process being followed by the president.