Greek legislative election, 1958

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Greek legislative election, 1958
Flag of Greece (1822-1978).svg
  1956 11 May 1958 1961  

All 300 seats to the Greek Parliament
151 seats were needed for a majority

 First partySecond partyThird party
  KaramanlisNatsinasAgora crop.jpg Male portrait placeholder cropped.jpg Sophoklis Venizelos, 1921.png
Leader Konstantinos Karamanlis Ioannis Passalidis Sofoklis Venizelos
Party ERE EDA Liberal
Leader since195519511948
Last election165 seats, 47.38%Ran with FIDE 132 seats, 48.15%
Seats won1716036
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 6Ran with FIDE Decrease2.svg 96
Popular vote1,583,885939,902795,445
Percentage41.16%24.42%20.67%
SwingDecrease2.svg 6.22%Ran with FIDE Decrease2.svg 27.48%

Prime Minister before election

Konstantinos Karamanlis
ERE

Subsequent Prime Minister

Konstantinos Karamanlis
ERE

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 11 May 1958. [1] The result was a second consecutive victory for Constantine Karamanlis and his National Radical Union party, which won 171 of the 300 seats in Parliament.

Greece republic in Southeast Europe

Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, self-identified and historically known as Hellas, is a country located in Southern and Southeast Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2016. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.

The National Radical Union was a Greek political party formed in 1956 by Konstantinos Karamanlis, mostly out of the Greek Rally party.

Contents

Background

Karamanlis took the decision to call for early elections, after some of the most prominent members of the National Radical Union defected from the party, including George Rallis and Panagis Papaligouras  (el ). Although Karamanlis could have a parliamentary majority, he preferred to go for elections, in order to achieve a renewed public support.

The pretext of the defection was a new electoral law that Karamanlis passed. Rallis was opposed to the law, thinking that it is going to be extremely favorable for EDA, a party believed to be linked with the then-banned Communist Party of Greece.

United Democratic Left Greek political party (1951–1977)

The United Democratic Left was a political party in Greece, active mostly before the Greek military junta of 1967–74.

Communist Party of Greece political party in Greece

The Communist Party of Greece is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece, it is the oldest political party in modern Greek politics. The party played a significant role in the Greek resistance and its membership peaked in the mid-1940s. It was the instigator of the Greek Civil War, but ended on the losing side and was banned until 1974.

The outcome of the results proved that Rallis' "fears" were justified. EDA became the second biggest party, outvoting a divided centre.

Just after the elections Karamanlis formed a new government, taking back in his party the defectors.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
National Radical Union 1,583,88541.2171+6
United Democratic Left 939,90224.479
Liberal Party 795,44520.736
Progressive Agricultural Democratic Union 408,78710.610New
Union of Populars 113,3582.94New
List of Independents 4,0090.10–2
Independents2,3390.10–1
Invalid/blank votes16,197
Total3,863,9221003000
Registered voters/turnout5,119,14875.5
Source: Nohlen & Stöver
Popular vote
ERE
41.16%
EDA
24.43%
KF
20.67%
PADE
10.62%
EL
2.95%
Others
0.16%
Parliament seats
ERE
57.00%
EDA
26.33%
KF
12.00%
PADE
3.33%
EL
1.33%

Aftermath

The unexpected rise of EDA, barely nine years after the end of the Greek Civil War, sent alarms through the right-wing establishment, and measures were taken to combat the emergent "communist threat", including the division of the large urban electoral districts of Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki so that the left-voting areas would be separated (forming the Athens B, Piraeus B, etc. constituencies), as well as the establishment of a dedicated domestic security agency, the General Directorate of National Security.

Athens Capital and largest city of Greece

Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years and its earliest human presence starting somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennium BC.

Piraeus Place in Greece

Piraeus is a port city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens urban area, 12 kilometres southwest from its city centre, and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf.

Thessaloniki City in Macedonia, Greece

Thessaloniki, also familiarly known as Thessalonica, Salonica or Salonika, is the second-largest city in Greece, with over 1 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of Greek Macedonia, the administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace. Its nickname is η Συμπρωτεύουσα (Symprotévousa), literally "the co-capital", a reference to its historical status as the Συμβασιλεύουσα (Symvasilévousa) or "co-reigning" city of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, alongside Constantinople.

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References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p830 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7