ATHENS: Greece’s top judge on Thursday became the country’s first female prime minister, taking over a caretaker administration to organise early elections next month, the fifth in the crisis-hit country in six years.

Vassiliki Thanou, the 65-year-old head of the Supreme Court, took her oath of office in a brief ceremony at the presidential mansion.

Dressed entirely in white, the diminutive judge then met with outgoing PM Alexis Tsipras.

Mother-of-three Thanou has taken a hard stance on austerity measures, having criticised as unconstitutional an unpopular property tax collected through electricity bills.

In February, she fired off an emotional letter to European Commission chairman Jean-Claude Juncker, protesting that austerity cuts were “annihilating” the Greek people.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2015

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