Lower house backs proposal for direct presidential elections

Lawmakers in the lower house of parliament backed a proposal on Thursday for the president to be elected directly by citizens in future. They voted in its first reading for a two-year old proposal by left-wing Social Democrats for direct elections to replace the current indirect voting by members of parliament. The Social Democrats’ proposal also seeks to weaken some of the president’s current powers to appoint top judges and members of the central bank on his own. It wants the prime minister to agree to these appointments as well.