Legislative elections were held in Greece on Sunday, 6 May 2012 to elect all 300 members to the Hellenic Parliament. It was scheduled to be held in late 2013, four years after the previous election; however, an early election was stipulated in the coalition agreement of November 2011 which formed the Papademos Cabinet. The coalition comprised both of Greece's traditional major political parties, PASOK on the left and New Democracy (ND) on the right, as well as the right-wing Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS). The aim of the coalition was to relieve the Greek government-debt crisis by ratifying and implementing decisions taken with other Eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a month earlier.[1]
The elections delivered massive losses for the parties of the outgoing government, resulting in a realignment of Greek politics. PASOK, who won the 2009 election in a relative landslide, won just 13% of the overall vote, a decline of almost three-quarters. ND emerged in first place with just 19% of votes, approximately half of its previous result. LAOS lost all of its seats. Syriza, previously a minor party on the left-wing, ran on an anti-austerity platform and outpolled PASOK with 17% of the vote. The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) improved its performance to 8.5%. Three new parties entered Parliament in the election – the right-wing populist Independent Greeks (ANEL) won 11%, the far-right Golden Dawn (XA) 7%, and the Democratic Left (DIMAR) 6%.[2]
New Democracy won a substantial plurality of 108 seats thanks to Greece's majority bonus, but ND and PASOK were the only pro-bailout parties present and now lacked a majority between them. Conversely, the anti-bailout parties were deeply divided between left and right. ND leader Antonis Samaras,[3] Syriza's Alexis Tsipras,[4] and PASOK's Evangelos Venizelos all tried and failed to put together governments in the days following the election.[5] On 16 May, President Karolos Papoulias appointed Panagiotis Pikrammenos as caretaker Prime Minister and scheduled a new general election for 17 June.[6]
At the same time, protests and strikes in Greece have been commonplace, with some turning violent. Social unrest in the country is the result of a series of austerity packages passed by the Greek parliament since 2010.
On 4 November 2011, there was a vote of confidence in Parliament, narrowly won by the government of George Papandreou by a vote of 153 to 145 in the 300-seat body.[15] Although a number of PASOK MPs said they would not support the government in the vote of confidence, all 152 eventually did support the government after PASOK's leader Papandreou agreed to step down as Prime Minister in order for a government of national unity to take over.[16][17] Following the vote of confidence one previously expelled PASOK member was re-admitted to the party, raising the Papandreou majority to 153 seats. Despite the narrow victory, Papandreou eventually resigned a few days later, making way for a three-party "grand coalition" caretaker government under Lucas Papademos, a former ECB vice president, with the support of PASOK, ND and LAOS. However, LAOS later resigned over further austerity measures.[18]
Procedure
Voting is mandatory;[19] however none of the legally existing penalties or sanctions have ever been enforced.[20][21] 250 seats will be distributed on the basis of proportional representation, with a threshold of 3% required for entry into parliament. The other 50 seats will be awarded to the party or coalition[citation needed] that wins a plurality of votes, according to the election law. Parliamentary majority is achieved by a party or coalition of parties that command at least one half plus one (151 out of 300) of total seats. Blank and invalid votes, as well as votes cast for parties that fall short of the 3% threshold, are disregarded for seat allocation purposes.[citation needed]
Date
In a speech to parliament on 4 November, Evangelos Venizelos said that the caretaker government would last until February.[22] In late December 2011, it was decided that the election would be pushed back to late April,[23] in order to allow the technocrat government to pass austerity measures.
Incumbent parliament
Five parties were elected at the 2009 election, but during the course of the parliament changes in party memberships (mostly due to the February 2012 expulsions from the main two parties of representatives who would not vote for the loan agreement[citation needed]), resulted in representation for a further two official parties (parties with more than 10 MPs) and two parliamentary caucuses (i.e. smaller parties). An additional 18 members sat as independents. Leaders of official parties enjoy certain privileges that permit them equal footing to one another and to the prime minister, both in parliamentary procedure and in pre-election debating; such privileges are not extended to caucuses and independents.[original research?]
Renewing Independent Left, Renewing Right, Renewing Pasok, Renewing New Democracy, No to War, Party of Action, I Give Away Land, I Pardon Debts, I Save Lives, Panagrarian Labour Movement of Greece (PAEKE), Miltiadis Tzalazidis (sole perennial candidate)[18]
Four other parties were banned by the Supreme Court of Greece: National Hope, PAME in GESEEP, the Friends of Man and Citizens Assembly–(Direct) Democracy in Practice. National Hope was prohibited under the electoral law from participating as it is a monarchist party.[24] The court also banned the one-man party Tyrannicides from contesting the election under that name, on the grounds that the title "demonstrated criminal intent."[18] The party's Athanasios Daskalopoulos was however allowed to run in the election as independent candidate, on equal terms with the 51 other approved independent candidates.[24]
On 18 March, PASOK held a leadership election in which Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos was the sole candidate.[25]
In order to provide voters with a quick unbiased tool, to check into what degree the voters personal answer in a political survey compared with the answers by the political parties, a joint academic non-profit group of researchers from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and four other International universities,[26] developed this free to use internet application Choose4Greece.
Campaign
A PASOK rally in Athens, May 2012
Among the 12 biggest political parties in the opinion polls, the parties that would continue the austerity programme were PASOK, New Democracy, DISY (Democratic Alliance) and DRASI (Liberal Alliance).[27]
There was also criticism of the German-led austerity programmes.[28] Golden Dawn's campaign also called for the placement of land mines on the border with Turkey, the revocation of eurozone loan agreements, nationalisation of banks that received state loans and the nationalisation of natural resources. It was also said to have gained support by organising patrols in high-crime neighbourhoods (a similar tactic to Jobbik, who gained entry into the Hungarian parliament for the first time[29][30]). In turn PASOK and New Democracy also ratcheted up rhetoric against illegal immigration, while New Democracy feared further loss of votes to opponents of the austerity measures. LAOS, in turn, called for immigrants to be sent to uninhabited islands.[31]
KKE leader Aleka Papariga said that Greece should leave both the eurozone and the EU.[32] ND's Antonis Samaras doubted the ability to create a "grand coalition" with PASOK.[33] The Ecogreens' Yiannis Paraskevopoulos said the prime issue for them was the economy and the direction of the country.[34] Independent Greeks' Panos Kammenos said that Germany was too dominant and criticised the austerity measures he said were dictated to Greece.[35] SYRIZA's Alexis Tsipras said that he was open to working with Independent Greeks or anyone who supported a left-wing government.[36] LAOS's Georgios Karatzaferis, who left the interim government midway through its "mandate," criticised ND and PASOK for their "betrayal," saying that "they depend their political survival on foreign power centres by accepting English law for [Greece's] bonds. This land is governed by Reichenbach[de]," while he justified his initial decision to join the interim government by saying: "I am not the first choice of the Americans and the troika. It's only natural for me to be put under pressure." He also criticised a new initiative against illegal immigration as lax, in what was read as a move to gain back credibility from Golden Dawn.[37]
Controversy
At a campaign rally in the Athenian suburb of Maroussi on 21 April, PASOK's Evangelos Venizelos said that "parliament cannot become a reception space for the followers of Nazism and fascism." In response, some Golden Dawn supporters were reported to have thrown bottles and other objects at him.[31]
Other events
Ahead of the election, the financial markets started to price in the risk that the election could result in a new government led by parties seeking to reverse the austerity measures.[38][39][40][41] Due to the risk factor, the yield for the new 10-year Greek government bond rose from 18.1% on 15 March to 22.3% on 10 April, at a time when opinion polls predicted the election would result in a new anti-austerity government. On 27 April, the yields slightly recovered to 20.6%, when opinion polls started to show that the election could result in an austerity friendly government.[42] Less than a week before the election Standard & Poor's increased the Greek sovereign debt rating by a notch above default.[43]
The Bank of Greece made an unusual political statement on 24 April when it claimed that the economic recovery depends upon a "strict adherence to the economic reforms and fiscal adjustment commitments Greece has agreed with its eurozone partners." It claimed that choosing a different path would only lead to a worsening of the recession. The central bank called on citizens and the political system to undertake "the historic responsibility of choice" and asked for "the greatest possible consensus" in society and in the political sphere when deciding if Greece should stay in the eurozone by applying the agreement with Greece’s creditors or to drop out. It warned that Greece’s eurozone membership was at stake if Greece failed to follow through on its pledges after the election.[40][44]
Local regression trend line of poll results from 4 October 2009 to 6 May 2012, with each line corresponding to a political party.
Surveys carried out since 2009 showed a sharp decline in support for the two major parties, PASOK and New Democracy, with PASOK, the sole ruling party until 2011, seeing the largest losses in support. Polling numbers for LAOS, having risen until late 2011, declined in the run up to the next election, while support for previously minor left-wing parties as well as the new, right-wing ANEL party seemed to surge. The poll by VPRC in January 2012 featured PASOK in fifth place, the first time in over thirty years that the party was not amongst the top two;[45] however by April 2012 it had returned to second place in the polls. Golden Dawn, an extreme right party, was set to enter parliament for the first time, capturing traditional LAOS voters after their support fell when they joined the interim governing coalition.[46]
According to Greek law, opinion polls may not be published in the last two weeks preceding an election.[47]
Results
Results, showing the seats won by each party in each electoral district.Results, showing the winning party in each municipal unit.
ND's Antonis Samaras said "I understand the rage of the people, but our party will not leave Greece ungoverned." Golden Dawn's Nikolaos Michaloliakos told his party supporters that "Europe of the nations returns, Greece is only the beginning" amid applaud and chants of "Greece belongs to Greeks." He also told the media: "The resistance of Golden Dawn against the bailout dictators will continue. Inside and outside the Greek parliament. We will continue the battle for Greece. Free from the international speculators. For a proud and independent Greece. For Greece without the bailout slavery and the loss of our national sovereignty."[48]
The absence of a parliamentary majority was highlighted as a reason of concern.[49] Financial analysts expressed their opinion that the poor result of the parties that had supported the austerity measures and neo-liberal economic policies would be detrimental for financial markets. The financial markets reacted negatively, with some opinions being expressed that Greece could withdraw from the eurozone before the end of 2013.[50] The Athex fell by a record 10% during the first hours of the trading day after the election.[51] At the close of the first trading day after the election, Athex had slightly recovered to a decline of 6.7%,[52] while the yield for 10-year government bond rose from 20.6% to 23.0%.[42] Following the failure of ND to form a government, European financial markets fell,[53] as well as U.S. futures markets.[54] U.S. stock indices also fell as a result.[55] As a result of the failure to form a government five days later, following both ND and SYRIZA's attempts, U.S. financial markets continued to slide.[56] After two failed attempts to form governments, Trevor Williams, the chief economist at Lloyds TSB said that the markets were beginning to factor in a Greek withdrawal from the eurozone.[57] This observation was at the same time also confirmed by a Bloomberg poll, as it showed 57% of investors now expected Greece would leave the euro in 2012.[58] Four days after the election, the Athex general index had declined 10.8%,[52] while yields for the 10-year government bond had increased from 20.6% to 24.7%.[42] Over the course of the next eight days following successive failed attempts at government formation, stock markets in Europe and elsewhere fell,[59][60] while sovereign bond yields in Italy and Spain also rose amid fears of a renewed crisis within the eurozone.[61]
European Union - The President of the European ParliamentMartin Schulz said that "the negotiations to form a government in Athens should have as a target the honouring of the country's obligations towards the European Union." Though he also said that the events in both Greece and other eurozone states indicate a need for a policy package in order to enhance growth and job creations.[62]
A European Commission spokesman said that it had "hopes and expects that the future government of Greece will respect the engagements that Greece has entered into."[63]
Germany - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Greece alone should determine a possible coalition government and that Germany would work with any democratically elected government, while insisting on the continuation of the bailout measures.[64] Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle added that Greece should continue to honour its obligations by cutting public deficits and that "we expect the formation of prudence government in Greece, with a clear European orientation." He added that Berlin will discuss this possibility with Athens.[62] After the failure of the first attempt to form a government he said that "we call on the authorities in Greece to quickly move toward stability so that a government of reason can be formed. [The developments are viewed] with great concern. It’s important for us that the steps that have been agreed upon with the government be implemented. They are not up for negotiation.[65]
BundestagAlliance 90/The Greens leader Jürgen Trittin reacted to the result in saying that it was a "clear vote that Europe should not lose its social equilibrium" and "this was the end of Mercozi, [sic] a good day for Europe and a bad day for Merkel."[62]
Sweden - Finance Minister Anders Borg said that "it is of course of central importance to underline that they must uphold the direction of fiscal policy. They must continue to uphold the measures they have pledged in the programmes."[citation needed]
Local media reactions included Imerisia[el]'s headline "Country in Limbo" and Ta Nea's "Nightmare of Ungovernability."[3]
New Democracy won most districts of the Greek countryside, winning in its traditional strongholds of Macedonia and Peloponnese. However, 19% of the vote for New Democracy is an all-time low for the party, down from its previous all-time low of 33% which occurred in the previous election in 2009. SYRIZA won the highest number of votes in most urban areas, including Athens and Thessaloniki. This is the first time since the election of 1977 that a party besides New Democracy or PASOK finished as one of the top two parties. PASOK, who have spent 21 years in government on-and-off since 1981, suffered their worst defeat since 1974, reduced to just 13% of the vote. PASOK finished in first place in four prefectures: Heraklion, Lasithi, Rethymno, and Rhodope. It has been suggested that Syriza's sudden success depended on PASOK joining the right-wing pro-austerity coalition and Syriza convincing voters that it was "the only 'true' leftist party" which unlike their rivals would actively renegotiate the austerity terms.[66]
Even though the Communist Party increased its share of the vote by almost 1% and increased its presence in the parliament by 5 seats, it finished outside of the top three for the first time since 1993. The Communist Party finished in first place in the Samos Prefecture. Far-right neo-naziGolden Dawn entered parliament for the first time, while far-right LAOS lost all parliament seats after it joined the governing coalition.
As the election resulted in no single party with a majority of parliament seats, the Greek law stipulates a procedure, where the largest party first will be given a chance to negotiate a government formation within three days. Failing that, the second largest party will be given the chance within the next three days, and if this attempt also fails the third ranked party will get a further three days to try and form a government. If none of the three largest parties can succeed to form a government, the baton will be handed over to the president for a last neutral attempt. If the process fails, then another election will be called.[63][67]
The day after the election, President Karolos Papoulias met with the leader of New Democracy Antonis Samaras to task him with the first attempt to form a government.[3] On 8 May, Tsipras was tasked with forming a government[4] within the stipulated three days by Papoulias at noon. At the same time the EU decided to continue with Greece's disbursements which meant sending US$5.4 billion on 10 May, but an additional US$1.29 billion was held back. As a result of the political imbroglio, both PASOK and ND suggested the EU and IMF agreement could have to be re-evaluated.[68] If PASOK leader Venizelos failed Papoulias would make a final attempt to form a unity government.[69] Venizelos met with Papoulias on 12 May to return his mandate.[5]
On 12 May, an opinion poll showed that 72% of respondents felt that the parties must make mutual concessions and work together, 22.9% of them called for a new election. At the same time, 78.1% requested that the new government should do everything necessary in order to keep Greece within the eurozone.[70]
The talks failed on 15 May, with an early election expected in June.[71] A caretaker cabinet under Council of State president Panagiotis Pikrammenos was appointed on 16 May, and the election date announced to be scheduled for 17 June.[6] The formal decrete to dissolve the newly elected parliament and call for new elections at 17 June, was jointly signed by the President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias and caretaker Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos at 19 May, to fully comply with the constitutional rule of calling for new elections within 30 days after having dissolved the parliament.[72]
George Andreas Papandreou is an American-born Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2009 to 2011. He is currently serving as an MP for Movement for Change.
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement, known mostly by its acronym PASOK, is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012 it was one of the two major parties in the country, along with New Democracy, its main political rival. After a decade of poor electoral outcomes, PASOK has retained its position as one of the main Greek political parties and is currently the second largest party in the Greek Parliament.
New Democracy is a liberal-conservative political party in Greece. In contemporary Greek politics, New Democracy has been the main centre-right to right wing political party and one of the two major parties along with its historic rival, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). New Democracy and PASOK were created in the wake of the toppling of the military junta in 1974, ruling Greece in succession for the next four decades. Following the electoral decline of PASOK, New Democracy remained one of the two major parties in Greece, the other being the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). The party was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and in the same year it formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic. New Democracy is a member of the European People's Party, the largest European political party since 1999, the Centrist Democrat International, and the International Democracy Union.
The Popular Orthodox Rally or People's Orthodox Alarm, often abbreviated to LAOS (ΛΑ.Ο.Σ.) as a reference to the Greek word for people, is a Greek right-wing populist political party. It was founded by journalist Georgios Karatzaferis in 2000, a few months after he was expelled from the centre-right New Democracy. Today, the party is led by Philippos Kampouris.
Antonis Samaras is a Greek politician who served as 14th Prime Minister of Greece from 2012 to 2015. Member of the New Democracy party, he was its president from 2009 until 2015. Samaras started his national political career as Minister of Finance in 1989; he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1992 and Minister of Culture in 2009.
Lucas Demetrios Papademos is a Greek economist and academic who served as 12th Prime Minister of Greece from November 2011 to May 2012, leading a national unity government in the wake of the Greek debt crisis. A technocrat, he previously served as Vice-President of the European Central Bank from 2002 to 2010 and Governor of the Bank of Greece from 1994 to 2002.
The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance, best known by the syllabic abbreviation SYRIZA, is a centre-left to left-wing political party in Greece. It was founded in 2004 as a political coalition of left-wing and radical left parties, and registered as a political party in 2012.
Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on Sunday, 16 September 2007 to elect the 300 members of the Hellenic Parliament. The leading party for a second term was New Democracy under the leadership of Kostas Karamanlis with 42%, followed by George Papandreou and PASOK with 38%. New Democracy managed to secure an absolute but narrow majority of 152 out of 300 seats in parliament. The populist Popular Orthodox Rally entered the parliament for the first time with 10 seats, while the parties of the left, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and Syriza, enjoyed a significant increase in their vote share. KKE received 8% of the votes and won 22 seats, while Syriza received 5% of the votes and 14 seats.
A referendum to decide whether or not Greece was to accept the conditions under which the European Union (EU), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) would allow a 50% haircut of Greek debt owed to private creditors was planned to be held in 2011. However, Prime Minister George Papandreou decided to cancel the referendum on 3 November, if the opposition parties vote in favour of the EU deal. The proposed referendum was later cancelled.
The Cabinet of Lucas Papademos succeeded the cabinet of George Papandreou, as an interim three-party coalition cabinet, leading a coalition government formed by the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party, New Democracy party and Popular Orthodox Rally party, after Papandreou's decision to step down, and allow a provisional coalition government to form with the task to take Greece out of a major political crisis caused by the country's debt crisis. It was the first coalition cabinet in Greece since the 1989–1990 Ecumenical Cabinet of Xenophon Zolotas.
The Independent Greeks – National Patriotic Alliance was a national conservative political party in Greece.
Legislative elections were held in Greece on Sunday, 17 June 2012, to elect all 300 members to the Hellenic Parliament in accordance with the constitution, after all attempts to form a new government failed following the May elections. If all attempts to form a new government fail, the constitution directs the president to dissolve a newly elected parliament, and then to call for new parliamentary elections within 30 days of the dissolution. The president announced at 16 May the date for the new election, and signed the formal decree to dissolve the parliament and call for the election at 19 May.
The Greek government formation of May 2012 was a series of failed attempts to form a new government after the legislative election in May 2012 by the three largest parties: New Democracy (centre-right), Coalition of the Radical Left and Panhellenic Socialist Movement, respectively, and then followed by the President of Greece. After the negotiations led by the president had failed on 15 May, a temporary caretaker cabinet under Council of State president Panagiotis Pikrammenos was appointed on 16 May, and a new election was set for 17 June.
Legislative elections were held in Greece on Sunday 25 January 2015 to elect all 300 members of the Hellenic Parliament in accordance with the constitution. The election was held earlier than scheduled due to the failure of the Greek parliament to elect a new president on 29 December 2014.
European Parliament elections were held in Greece on 25 May 2014 to elect the 21 Greek members of the European Parliament. The number of seats allocated to Greece declined from 22 to 21, as a result of the 2013 reapportionment of seats in the European Parliament.
The Greek government-debt crisis began in 2009 and, as of November 2017, was still ongoing. During this period, many changes had occurred in Greece. The income of many Greeks has declined, levels of unemployment have increased, elections and resignations of politicians have altered the country's political landscape radically, the Greek parliament has passed many austerity bills, and protests have become common sights throughout the country.
Indirect presidential elections were held in Greece in December 2014 and February 2015 for the succession to Karolos Papoulias as President of the Hellenic Republic. The candidate of the ND–PASOK government, Stavros Dimas, failed to secure the required majority of MPs of the Hellenic Parliament in the first three rounds of voting in December. According to the provisions of the Constitution of Greece, a snap election was held on 25 January 2015, which was won by the left-wing Syriza party. Following the convening of the new Parliament, the presidential election resumed. On 18 February 2015, veteran ND politician Prokopis Pavlopoulos, backed by the Syriza-ANEL coalition government, was elected with 233 votes.
This article details the fourteen austerity packages passed by the Government of Greece between 2010 and 2017. These austerity measures were a result of the Greek government-debt crisis and other economic factors. All of the legislation listed remains in force.
The PASOK – Movement for Change is a political alliance in Greece, which was founded in March 2018, initially as "Movement for Change", mainly affiliated with the centre-left of the political spectrum. It includes the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and Movement of Democratic Socialists (KIDISO).
Socialism in Greece has a significant history, with various activists, politicians and political parties identifying as socialist. Socialist movements in Greece began to form around the early 20th century, including the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) (1920–present), the Socialist Party of Greece (1920-1953) and the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). Socialist ideology is present in ΚΚΕ also known as the Communist party of Greece.
↑ ΚΚΕ: Εκλογές τώρα[Communist Party of Greece: Elections now] (in Greek). Ethnos. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
↑ Προεδρικό Διάταγμα 96/2007[Presidential Decree 96/2007] (in Greek). Article 117, Clause 1: The elector who unjustifiably does not vote is punished with imprisonment of [at least] one month and up to one year.
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