Greek legislative election, 1951

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Greek legislative election, 1951
Flag of Greece (1822-1978).svg
  1950 9 September 1951 1952  

All 258 seats of the Greek Parliament
130 seats were needed for a majority

 First partySecond party
  Papagos alexandros.jpg PROKOPIOU-PLASTIRAS-9.jpg
Leader Alexandros Papagos Nikolaos Plastiras
Party ES EPEK
Leader since19511949
Last electionNew45 seats, 16.45%
Seats won11474
Seat changeNewIncrease2.svg 29
Popular vote624,316401,379
Percentage36.53%23.49%
SwingNewIncrease2.svg 7.04%

 Third partyFourth party
  Sophoklis Venizelos, 1921.png No image.png
Leader Sofoklis Venizelos Ioannis Passalidis
Party Liberal EDA
Leader since19481951
Last election56 seats, 17.24%New
Seats won5710
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 1New
Popular vote325,390180,640
Percentage19.04%10.57%
SwingIncrease2.svg 1.80%New

Prime Minister before election

Sofoklis Venizelos
Liberal

Elected Prime Minister

Nikolaos Plastiras
EPEK

Coat of Arms of Greece (Monochromatic).svg
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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.

Contents

Background

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.

Outcome

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.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Greek Rally 624,31636.5114New
National Progressive Center Union 401,37923.574+29
Liberal Party 325,39019.057+1
United Democratic Left 180,64010.610New
People's Party 113,8766.72–60
Georgios Papandreou Party 35,8102.10–35
Agricultural and Labour Party 21,0091.21New
Socialist Party of Greece 3,9120.20New
List of Independents 1,5540.100
Communist Archio-Marxist Party of Greece 1,1480.10New
Independents9650.100
Invalid/blank votes8,108
Total1,717,107100258+8
Registered voters/turnout2,224,24677.2
Source: Nohlen & Stöver
Popular vote
ES
36.53%
EPEK
23.49%
KF
19.04%
EDA
10.57%
LK
6.66%
KGP
2.10%
AEK
1.23%
Others
0.38%
Parliament seats
ES
44.19%
EPEK
28.68%
KF
22.09%
EDA
3.88%
LK
0.78%
AEK
0.39%

Aftermath

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.

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References

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