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| Politics of Greece |
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Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 9 September 1951. [1] They resulted in an ambivalent outcome, consisting a narrow and pyrrhic, as proven later, victory for the ruling center-liberal parties of Sophoklis Venizelos and Nikolaos Plastiras.
After the Greek elections of 1950, when the divided centrist parties had a clear majority in the Parliament political instability was the main characteristic of the political life in Greece. The subsequent centre-liberal governments of Sophoklis Venizelos, Nikolaos Plastiras and Georgios Papandreou did not manage to ensure and enforce stability. As a result, Nikolaos Plastiras supported a People's Party government, under the terms that the latter would soon conduct elections.
First party in the elections of 1951 was the just-founded Greek Rally of Alexandros Papagos, which swept the traditionally dominant right-wing People's Party. Nevertheless, the two major centrist-liberal parties, the Liberal Party and the National Progressive Center Union, elected more deputies than the conservatives.
The left-wing EDA, a party believed to have been affiliated with the outlaw during 1950-1974 Communist Party of Greece, made its first appearance in these elections.
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greek Rally | 624,316 | 36.53 | 114 | New | |
| National Progressive Center Union | 401,379 | 23.49 | 74 | +29 | |
| Liberal Party | 325,390 | 19.04 | 57 | +1 | |
| United Democratic Left | 180,640 | 10.57 | 10 | –8 | |
| People's Party | 113,876 | 6.66 | 2 | –60 | |
| Georgios Papandreou Party | 35,810 | 2.10 | 0 | –35 | |
| Agricultural and Labour Party | 21,009 | 1.23 | 1 | New | |
| Socialist Party of Greece | 3,912 | 0.23 | 0 | New | |
| List of Independents | 1,554 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | |
| Communist Archio-Marxist Party | 53 | 0.00 | 0 | New | |
| Independents | 965 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 1,708,904 | 100.00 | 258 | +8 | |
| Valid votes | 1,708,904 | 99.53 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 8,108 | 0.47 | |||
| Total votes | 1,717,012 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,224,246 | 77.20 | |||
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Hellenic Parliament | |||||
Since no party or alliance had the absolute majority in the Parliament and Alexandros Papagos refused to participate in a government of national unity, the Liberal Party and the National Progressive Center Union formed a minority government under the leadership of Nikolaos Plastiras, which lasted for about a year, since 1952, when Nikolaos Plastiras submitted his resignation and new legislative elections were proclaimed by the King Paul I.
Georgios Papandreou was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as prime minister of Greece. He was also deputy prime minister from 1950 to 1952, in the governments of Nikolaos Plastiras and Sofoklis Venizelos. He served numerous times as a cabinet minister, starting in 1923, in a political career that spanned more than five decades.
This article gives an overview of liberalism in Greece. Liberal parties in Greece are largely committed to liberalism, republicanism and democracy. It is limited to liberal parties.
Nikolaos Plastiras was a Greek general and politician, who served twice as Prime Minister of Greece. A distinguished soldier known for his personal bravery, he became famous as "The Black Rider" during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, where he commanded the 5/42 Evzone Regiment. After the Greek defeat in the war, along with other Venizelist officers he launched the 11 September 1922 Revolution that deposed King Constantine I of Greece and his government. The military-led government ruled until January 1924, when power was handed over to an elected National Assembly, which later declared the Second Hellenic Republic. In the interwar period, Plastiras remained a devoted Venizelist and republican. Trying to avert the rise of the royalist People's Party and the restoration of the monarchy, he led two coup attempts in 1933 and 1935, both of which failed, forcing him to exile in France.
Venizelism was one of the major political movements in Greece beginning from the 1910s. The movement first formed under Eleftherios Venizelos in the 1910s and saw a resurgence of support in the 1960s when Georgios Papandreou united a coalition of old Venizelists and nationalist politicians.
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Sofoklis Venizelos was a Greek politician who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece: in 1944, 1950 and 1950–1951.
The People's Party or Populist Party was a conservative and pro-monarchist Greek political party founded by Dimitrios Gounaris, the main political rival of Eleftherios Venizelos and his Liberal Party. The party existed from 1920 until 1958.
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Panagis Tsaldaris was a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece twice. He was a revered conservative politician and leader for many years (1922–1936) of the conservative People's Party in the period before World War II. He was the husband of Lina Tsaldari, a Greek suffragist, member of Parliament, and the Minister for Social Welfare.
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The National Progressive Centre Union was a Greek Venizelist political party. It was founded in 1950 by Nikolaos Plastiras, and formed a government with other Centrist parties after the 1950 legislative election. It later formed another coalition government after the resignation of Sofoklis Venizelos as Prime Minister, and another one in 1951 with Venizelos. After Plastiras's death in 1953, the party continued to exist, but was subsumed into the Centre Union in 1961.
Stylianos Gonatas was an officer of the Hellenic Army, Venizelist politician, and Prime Minister of Greece from 1922 to 1924.
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Dimitrios Gontikas or Gondikas was a Greek politician and Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament.
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The Progressive Liberal Party was a short-lived political party founded by General Nikolaos Plastiras in December 1949. The party belonged to the political center, supporting liberalism as it had been shaped in Greece by Eleftherios Venizelos (Venizelism).
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