Greek legislative election, 1964

Greek legislative election, 1964

19 February 1964

All 300 seats to the Greek Parliament 151 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Georgios Papandreou Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Ioannis Passalidis Party ΕΚ ERE EDA Leader since 1961 1963 1951 Last election 126 seats, 42.04% 118 seats, 39.37% 43 seats, 14,34% Seats won 171 107 22 Seat change +45 -11 -21 Percentage 52.72% 35.26% 11,80% Swing +10.68% -4.11% +2.54%

PM before election Georgios Papandreou ΕΚ Subsequent PM Georgios Papandreou ΕΚ

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 16 February 1964.^[1] They resulted in a clear victory for Georgios Papandreou and his Center Union party.

Papandreou had formed an interim government just after the legislative elections of 1963, in order to carry out new elections, because no party had the absolute majority in the Parliament. The Greek people voted for a strong and robust government, offering the Center Union a landslide victory.

On the other hand, the National Radical Union was too weak, after Constantine Karamanlis had abandoned politics and exiled himself to Paris. The new party leader, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos formed an alliance with the Progressive Party of Spyros Markezinis, an alliance, which offered no gains to the right-wing parataxis. A year before such an alliance could have been more successful.

Another reason for the landslide victory of the Center Union was the indirect support for the centrists by the United Democratic Left (ΕΔΑ), which turned intentionally a part of its electorate towards the Center Union. It was the antipathy towards the conservatives that brought the two parties of the center-left closer.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Centre Union	2,424,477	52.7	171	+33
National Radical Union-Progressive Party	1,621,546	35.3	107	–27
United Democratic Left	542,865	11.8	22	–6
List of Independents	9,951	0.2	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	28,151	–	–	–
Total	4,626,990	100	300	0
Registered voters/turnout	5,662,965	81.7	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Popular vote
EK			52.72%
ERE-KP			35.26%
EDA			11.80%
Others			0.22%

Parliament seats
EK			57.00%
ERE-KP			35.67%
EDA			7.33%

Aftermath

Just after the elections, Georgios Papandreou formed his first solid government, which would last till 1965, when a new political turmoil, the so-called Apostasia (lit. "defection"), namely a fierce confrontation with King Constantine II, caused its fall and the appointment of a series of weak governments, comprising centrist defectors and supported by the National Radical Union and King Constantine II.

The elections of 1964 were the last before the enforcement of a military dictatorship, which exploited the endless political unrest.

References

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