Former Parliament speaker Konstantinos Tasoulas became the ninth president of Greece since the fall of the 1967-1974 dictatorship and the abolition of the monarchy, on Thursday, Ekathimerini reports.

After being sworn in by the archbishop of Athens in Parliament and laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the square in front of the House, Tasoulas will make the brief trip to the Presidential Mansion, where he takes over from Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

Tasoulas, 66, was elected to the largely ceremonial presidency with a majority of 160 votes in the 300-seat House on February 12, backed chiefly by members of his party, the governing center-right New Democracy.

Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony was not without some political drama, as two parties, Course of Freedom and Greek Solution, decided to abstain from proceedings in protest at Tasoulas’ nomination by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis

The new Greek president was elected on the fourth attempt.